Hey, it's MPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. So my folks live in Florida, and I worry

about them every time I hear of a big storm coming their way. And I especially worry because

my dad's the type of guy who'll hunker down and stay even when officials say to leave. But as you'll

hear in today's book, making the decision to stay in the face of a

massive disastrous storm comes from a place more complicated than stubbornness. The book is The

Light Pirate by Lily Brooks Dalton. It's a dystopian look at a Florida that's not too far off

into the future where climate change has ravaged the state, leaving behind a new landscape.

Brooks Dalton talked to NPR Sarah McCamond about the tensions behind building something new

in the ruins of environmental destruction.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show

Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR

app or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the opening of Lily Brooks Dalton's new novel, a massive hurricane is about to hit Florida.

It's eye aiming for a rural community on the intercoastal waterway. And when it makes landfall,

a woman whose husband refused to evacuate gives birth in her house alone.

The kitchen is in shambles. Cabinet doors hanging askew, dirty dishes smashed against the wall.

Somehow nothing has touched Frida where she lies. Somehow she has willed the small sliver of space she occupies into safety.

Frida looks down at the baby and something like electricity passes between them.

A brief spark, a small jolt.

Frida feels it enter her skin and skim along her veins up into her thundering heart.

...