The Crystal Drop

by Monica Hughes

In the summer of 2011, the death of their mother sends Megan and her younger brother Ian on a dangerous journey across a Canada ravaged by drought and the collapse of civilization.

Genres: Science Fiction, Childrens, Canada, Young Adult, Post Apocalyptic, Middle Grade, Fiction

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Monica Hughes was a very popular writer for young people, and has won numerous prizes. Her books have been published in the United States, Poland, Spain, Japan, France, Scandinavia, England, and Germany. She has twice received the Canada Council Prize for Children's Literature, and was runner-up for the Guardian Award.

She is the author of Keeper of the Isis Light, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, which also received a Certificate of Honor from the International Board on Books for Young People; Hunter in the Dark, also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Sandwriter, among many other titles.

Reviews

[Gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

SCARS ON THE LAND--AND IN HER HEART

Hughes depicts a grim but ultimately hopeful future for decent people in the Canadian Rockies. Her story, set in the early 21st century, paints an arid world that has been all but destroyed by mankind's arrogance, ambition and blatant disregard for the balances of Nature:--Mother Earth, racial equilibrium and even the distortion of morality in general. Despite the young protagonists, this is not necessarily a Young Adult novel, for the author develops several mature themes; she urges educated conservation and bio-geo awareness; respect for ancient cultures; recognition of the predatory effects of "Civilization."
When will humanity accept responsibility for preserving the delicate balance among the Earth's ecosystems?

Orpahned Megan (13) and Ian (10) undertake a reluctant quest: to leave their deserted, decaying home after the sudden death of their mother in childbirth; to seek a uptopian society vaguely to the West--established by deliciously alluring Waterfalls. Turning their backs on a parched and eroded wilderness, the plucky youngsters struggle against Nature, human nature at its worst, and their own sibling rivalries. Megan is driven to save herself and protect her brother by locating a rumored uncle--if he is still alive.

The literary style includes much dialogue and some mini backtracking of time (replaying a scene from another character's point of view.) Can two kids make it through a hostile world to a land flowing with sweet water, where enlightened people work to revive the earth? Reminiscent of Terry Nations' futurist old series on PBS, SURVIVORS. We need to establish Connections with our planet. For thoughtful readers of all ages.

(May 28, 2012. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, it was a fairly engaging survivalist/quasi-post-apocalypse story set in the not-too-distant future, so it was believable. That said, as soon as I saw the cover, it triggered an awful memory from the story I've been trying to suppress for several years now:


You see that cute dog? Don't get attached to him. They lose him at one point, either just before or around the same time they are given shelter and a particularly nourishing meal by some people. Before they go, however, they open a freezer door...and discover their dog has been killed by these people for food, and they had eaten some of the meat. HI THERE, MY WORST NIGHTMARE.

[Cupof Tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was difficult to categorize. Much of what Monica Hughes writes is science fiction, but I would call this more speculative fiction... Written in 1992, set in 2011, in a bleak future that never was. Northern Alberta in a drought, the farmland now too alkaline to grow, and two children alone in uninhabitable territory.

Many themes and topics I enjoyed about this book... a journey dealing with survival, Canadian aboriginal legends, and environmental problems.

At times it reminded me of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in Alberta, Canada. Without being a spoiler, a couple of concerns include the ending and the section on the Blackfoot tribe which includes some especially disconcerting pieces.

[Janelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ll admit it has been many years since I read this book. But I’ll never get over the fact that they end up eating their dog. I think my grade 5/6 teacher chose this as a read aloud.

[Tori Marroquin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Towards the end of last year, I started seeking out some of the books that stuck with me in my childhood, this was one of those books.

The Crystal Drop properly traumatized me as a kid, and I say that as in there is a scene in this book that I have thought about maybe once or twice a month for my entire life. It took so long for me to find this book again because I honestly didn't even want to google the scene that stuck with me.

Upon reading it again, however, I feel like this book was surprisingly good.

Poorly explained plot/spoilers below:

The book opens the day after Megan's mother dies giving birth to her baby brother. Megan is 13 and is now the sole caregiver for her 10-year-old brother. Global warming has ravaged the earth, and the two are living on their family's former poultry farm in rural Alberta.
Megan realizes their resources are going to run out, so she decides that the two of them are going to trek in the heat to find their Uncle living in BC, where hopefully there is still water remaining. So Megan, Ian, and Ian's dog head out on their quest.

The two slowly make their way across Alberta on foot, rationing water and surviving on dried gopher meat and weeds. One night Ian's dog takes off and the two can't locate him. Shortly after they come across an abandoned buffalo jump museum, where four indigenous teenagers welcome them and let them stay the night. The teenagers tell Megan and Ian about the history of the buffalo jump and provide them with a hot meal. The next day Megan and one of the boys go to look at the buffalo jump site, only to be interrupted by Ian's screaming. Why was he screaming you might ask? Because he found his dog's body in the fridge of the museum. That's right, the hot meal they ate the night before was their PET DOG. (can you guess the scene that traumatized me?)

Megan and Ian run from the museum, terrified that they might be hunted and eaten too, only to find that one of the teenagers had refilled their canteens for them and provided them with an extra one for their journey. They travel a few more days, running low on supplies and refilling their canteens wherever they can find water. At the first stop where they refill, they get chased off by a farmer and his dog and barely make it out. At their second stop for water, Megan gets shot in the arm.

After getting shot Megan begins to struggle to think and speak clearly. Finally, she collapses and Ian goes up to a stranger's farm to see if he can convince them to help. The older couple takes in Ian and Megan and lets them stay on their farm until Megan's arm is healed. While they're there Megan realizes that she and Ian are eating into the couple's store for winter and realizes if they stay much longer there won't be enough food for all of them. She decides that she and Ian need to continue looking for their uncle, and are given a map and some supplies from the couple before they leave again.

The two survive an encounter with quicksand (is this where my irrational fear of it comes from?), wolves, and two more nights sleeping in the mountains before they finally come to the spot Megan last knew of her uncle living at. They meet a boy named Gideon who is neighbours with their uncle and is living in a small hidden oasis called Gaia, where the residents have managed to cultivate a small self-sustaining community.

The book ends with the two being reunited with their uncle and a flash-forward chapter where Gideon has asked Megan to wait for him while he's at college and she replies "Wait for you? Next year I'll have finished school. I'm going to get such good marks they'll send me to college too. Will you wait for me?"

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put off reading this speculative fiction novel for a long time as I thought it might be a bit depressing, but as I began reading I realised I have actually read it before. It wasn't too grim, either, more of an adventure novel.

The story is narrated from the perspective of Megan Dougal. The story was published in 1992 but the year is 2011 and we learn that Megan was in first grade about six years ago so that makes her about 13 I think. Her brother, Ian, is ten, which is mentioned multiple times throughout the novel, but I found Megan's age hard to pinpoint.

The story opens with Megan's mother dying in childbirth. Their father had left months ago and not returned. They live on a poultry farm with about 3 chickens left. The hole in the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect are the key worries of this timeframe. The weather is super hot and there is little water. Megan and Ian begin a journey to find their uncle. It's an interesting journey and I really enjoyed the descriptions of how they survived, looking for water and finding what food they could. I thought the encounter with the indigenous Peigan teenagers was wholly cringeworthy (their pidgin English, spiritualism, unclear intentions), but it was nice to see some balance between the mean and horrible (survivalists) and kindhearted and compassionate (Sadie and Mitch). Despite how isolated they were in their part of the country, which was turning to desert, it seemed there was still some government left, and they see cars and even a train.

The message in the book was clear: treat the land better. There were two things I found particularly interesting: Mitch's description of how thousands of years ago there was an area of land between the Euprhates and the Tigris that grew the best wheat in the world, but that land was turned to desert by misuse of water, and the quote about clouds from Anne Marriott's "The Wind Our Enemy", from "The Circular Coast", "just empties going back". The change to the landscape of the Great Plains I've read about before - the senseless slaughter of the buffalo, tearing up the land for wheat so that nothing will hold it down when the wind blows, damming, moving rivers, draining swamps, fertilisers, poisons...

The blurb on the back of the book overstates the importance of the crystal drop (an ornament from home that Meg takes as they leave): "It is only the crystal drop and its promise of water that drives them on". Not true. Meg only likes the crystal drop because it reminds her of a drop of water, and it does nothing to drive them on, just the idea of water does.

Another thing I found a bit off about the story was the relationship between Meg and Ian. Given that she's only a few years older than him and they've spent their life in isolation on their farm, I would have thought that their relationship would have been closer, more like playmates, and with love and affection, but there's little of that. It's a troubled relationship, with sexism and genderism (if I can use that term). I guess it made for an interesting read, but I thought it was a bit sad, considering their circumstances.

I shed a few tears at the end of the story, as it ends with hope.

[SpinsNReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book when I was in 6th grade, so I was about 11, and when I was older I tried to find it for some reason. Every couple of years I would try to remember what the name of the book was remembering only the older sister and younger brother, a drought, the waterfall, the teardrop shaped necklace, and that they were tricked into eating their dog.

I don’t know why I tried to find it so hard since I remembered most of the important, and horrible points. Maybe I hadn’t finished it, I feel like I must not have, and I wanted closure? Either way, I should have let weird dead Canadian books lie. Having found this thing, my next question is how did a copy end up in my rural California classroom?

Anyway, after being traumatized repeatedly, I finally finished the book just to be preached to about the climate change agenda. The only way to heal Earth, is to use solar panels, turbines, and not to be greedy with the cows, electricity and wood heat 🙄. Well thankfully the farmland hasn’t turned to dust yet. I’m so happy I tracked down this book and read it in a single day, but now it’s going to the donate bin where I hope it dies, so it doesn’t horrify any other 11 year olds.

[Twyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part was wither when Megan and Ian found their uncle or when Mitch and Sadie rescued Megan after she was injured, because they were the first actually nice people that they had met since they left home. My least favorite part was wither when Megan an Ian's mother died or when they had to eat Charlie.

[Prudence and the Crow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Hughes' finest hour - there are a few things that dragged me the wrong way in this, essentially The Road but with small children (and, crucially, published more than a decade earlier). Strong turns of character voice and occasional, piercing jabs of humanity couldn't keep me on side in this immediately grim, post-apocalyptic road trip.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might have helped that I have frequently traveled the roads these kids do so I could imagine it in my mind; but I loved this story. Of the effects of climate change, of the Canadian prairies, but mostly of family and of survival.

[Tristan Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going into this I was sure I'd never read The Crystal Drop before. As each page went on, I started to think that maybe I have read this as the whole thing seemed vaguely familiar.

Anywho, really good, poignant story, which still resonates thirty years later.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for school. It isnt one I would have probably picked on my own, but the problems they faced were interesting.
For a book to read in school, it was decent.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly slow book. Surprised it was popular with middle school kids back in the day. Enjoyed the Alberta setting though.

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s an entertaining “you and me against the world” kind of adventure story, but it is a futuristic fantasy that imagines a world in which “global warming” (blamed on mis-management of resources) has come to an unfortunate result, making survival almost impossible. There are multiple references to the hole in the ozone layer, as well as helping “Mother Earth” heal herself, with bits of Native American Spiritism mixed in. It is definitely not consistent with a Biblical viewpoint of God's sovereign maintenance of the world as promised since the flood.I think it’s asking a little much of a 4th level reader to be able to sort through those issues appropriately without being confused regarding the Biblical issues.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was read to me during junior high, by a teacher whose name as since escaped my memory. But I never forgot the story, or the patience and care my teacher took in reading to her classroom every day.

The Crystal Drop takes place around the country where I grew up -- Southern Alberta. It is a story of loss and hope; I remember one astonishing scene, which takes place at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, where the two main characters meet some unlikely allies, but it turns out to be more than they bargained for. I won't spoil it for you, but I highly recommend that you read this novel.

[smalls · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book grabs you right away. An eleven year old girl helps her mother give birth to her new brother, only to have them both die. It is now up the her to get her seven year old brother and herself to her uncles house in another state. It is set in the near future and suggests that the world has run out of water, and has destroyed most of the land. They are up against Survivalists, and wild animals as they travel alone. Very good story, for a young readers book.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in late 2005 or early 2006 as a curricular read in middle school. I was one of very few people who read it - everyone else selected books that were more appealing. Their loss! I don't remember all of what happened in the book, but it was very emotional at times, and I would read it again.

[YorkshireSue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful book which totally turned me on to Monica Hughes's writing. Strong, evocative writing with a compelling storyline.

[Mia Cruz]

A nice book

[Taj · Rating 2 out of 5]

strange post apocalyptic story -- somehow just never engaged me could not 'feel' for the protanists

[DrCalvin]

Read in Swedish, with the title "Ett hål i himlen"