Lighthouse Island

A tight, clean, and unmarked copy-" From bestselling author Paulette Jiles, a novel set in the far future-a literary dystopian tale that resounds, ultimately, with hope. On a hot, dry day a four-year-old girl named Raisa was taken out into a busy street by her parents and abandoned. The world's population has exploded, water is scarce and comes at a premium, people and places have been stripped of their individuality, and government-controlled radio and television are the only sources of news and entertainment. As young Raisa is passed among orphanages and foster families, she is renamed Nadia Stepan and learns to don new personas as needed. She also learns to escape into the world of her imagination, a verdant place of freedom and adventure-things she is able to conjure thanks to the old, neglected books she read as a child. When an opportunity presents itself, she risks her life to escape to the legendary North where she's heard, Lighthouse Island may be found, a long-ago vacation spot where she is certain she will find her parents. Along the way she meets and falls in love with James Orotov- a brilliant, wealthy young mapmaker who is physically crippled-and together they embark on an odyssey that will change the course of the world. From the Back Cover: A beautiful and captivating dystopian tale resonant with love and hope from the acclaimed poet and New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Lightning, Stormy Weather, and Enemy Women See the rain forests . . . northern beauty, misted nights. Come to Lighthouse Island . . . In the coming centuries, Earth's population has exploded and covered the planet with endless cities. It is an unwelcoming world for Nadia Stepan, abandoned at age four and left with only a drawing of the Big Dipper and her mother's parting words: "Look to the North Star, and we will always be there." Nadia grows up dreaming of the vacation spot called Lighthouse Island, in a place called the Pacific Northwest where she believes her long-lost parents must be. In the meantime, this bright and witty orphan finds refuge in neglected books, and the voice of Big Radio that emanates from an abandoned satellite, patiently reading the great classical books of the world. When an opportunity for escape appears, Nadia strikes out in search of a dream. She faces every contingency with inventiveness and meets a man who changes the course of her life. Together, they head north toward a place of wild beauty that lies far beyond the megalopolis: Lighthouse Island."