The Light Pirate

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Brooks-Dalton portrays a world fundamentally altered by climate change yet finds moments of beauty and resilience amid catastrophe. How did this balance of devastation and hope affect your reading experience?

2. How does The Light Pirate challenge or reinforce your expectations of climate fiction? Which aspects of Brooks-Dalton’s vision of Earth’s environmental future felt most impactful?

3. Brooks-Dalton previously explored isolation and human connection in Good Morning, Midnight (which became the film The Midnight Sky). How does The Light Pirate’s approach to human resilience compare to her earlier work or other post-apocalyptic stories that you’ve read?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Throughout the novel, Wanda demonstrates adaptability, learning to survive in a rapidly changing environment. When in your life have you needed to adapt to significant changes, and what resources helped you through that transition?

2. Phyllis prepares for climate catastrophe while others deny or ignore the changes around them. Have you ever found yourself addressing a problem that others weren’t acknowledging? How did that experience shape your perspective?

3. The novel explores how communities form and dissolve in response to crisis. What communities or relationships have sustained you during difficult times, and how did they influence your resilience?

4. Wanda’s ability to illuminate water represents both her connection to nature and her potential to guide others. What unique skills or insights do you possess that connect you to the world in meaningful ways?

5. The Light Pirate spans Wanda’s entire lifetime, showing how early experiences shape her later choices. Looking back on your own life, which early experiences or relationships have most significantly influenced who you are today?

6. After losing Phyllis, Wanda struggles between the safety of isolation and her yearning for connection. How do you navigate the balance between self-protection and meaningful connection in your own life?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Brooks-Dalton depicts a government that abandons Florida “as if it were a rundown theme park with a roller coaster that was no longer safe to ride” (237). How does this portrayal reflect real-world responses to climate disasters, and what societal values does it reveal?

2. The novel suggests that lower socioeconomic groups bear the brunt of climate change’s effects, with characters like Phyllis and Wanda remaining in Rudder while others have the resources to leave. How does this parallel current inequalities in environmental justice?

3. The novel depicts different models of community in crisis, from self-interested scavengers to Bird Dog’s cooperative group. What do these fictional communities suggest about building resilient societies in the face of environmental challenges?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The novel employs magical realism through Wanda’s relationship with bioluminescent organisms. How does this supernatural element enhance the book’s exploration of climate change and human adaptation?

2. Brooks-Dalton structures the novel in four parts spanning Wanda’s lifetime, with significant time jumps between sections. How does this temporal structure affect your understanding of the characters and their world?

3. Storms serve as both literal plot devices and symbolic elements throughout the novel, similar to how butterflies function in Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior. How does Brooks-Dalton use these natural elements to develop the theme of nature’s beauty and violence?

4. The character of Phyllis represents a connection between scientific knowledge and practical survival skills. How does her characterization challenge or reinforce conventional views about preparation for climate change?

5. The blue house functions as a significant motif related to survival and adaptation. What does its ultimate destruction reveal about the novel’s vision of what it means to truly adapt?

6. How do the relationships between Wanda and her three parental figures (Frida, Kirby, and Phyllis) contrast with one another, and what do these relationships suggest about the novel’s view of family?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Which survival skills depicted in the novel do you find most valuable, and how might those apply to environmental challenges in your region?

2. Wanda and Bird Dog create a thriving community in the transformed landscape of Rudder. What elements would you include in designing a sustainable settlement adapted to your local geography?

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