This
acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an
award-winning author pairs well with 1984
or The Handmaid's Tale
and includes a foreword by N. K. Jemisin (John Green, New York
Times).
When global climate change and economic
crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes
full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds
who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old
Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher
father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding
anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers
from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions.
Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must
make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the
imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what
begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the
birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.