Here's why Courtney and Mary suggest Parable of the Sower...
Have you ever imagined what California might look like, if climate change and economic crisis were to intersect? Set in the near future – the 2020's! – Parable of the Sower follows 15 year old Lauren Olamina as she and her family struggle to survive in a world ravaged by global environmental disaster and corporate greed. Into dystopian fiction?! This is the summer reading book for you!
About the book
Parable of the Sower
By Octavia E. Butler
In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others. When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind. - Goodreads
About the reader
Courtney Rein, English
Courtney has previously recommended the following books:
- Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
- The Bone people by Keri Hulme
- Swamplandia by Kerry Russel
- Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
- The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf
- Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
Mary Murphy, Science
Mary has previously recommended the following books:
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Anhililation by Jeff VanderMeer
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King
- The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving