In Octavia E. Butler’s award-winning speculative-fiction classic, a dystopian California ravaged by climate change and economic crisis serves as the backdrop for the story of 15-year-old Lauren Olamina, who lives in a fortified community with her preacher father and family. Lauren struggles with hyper-empathy—a debilitating sensitivity to others’ emotions. Precocious and clear-eyed, she must make her voice heard 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 the birth of a new faith and a startling vision of human destiny.
