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.