Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

The story takes place on the Gulf coast where ground oil tankers are stripped for their valuable materials.  Nailer is a teenage who works on the light crew taking copper from the grounded ships.  Nailer's mom is dead and his dad is an addict, so Nailer is basically on his own and just barely surviving.  When Nailer discovers a beautiful grounded clipper ship and he must decide whether to help the girl he discovers on it or savage the ship and the valuable materials it contains.

This story hits close to home with the oil spill in the Gulf and the description of New Orleans, where Nailer and "Lucky Girl" travel in search of her father and his allies.