"An impressive debut that goes beneath surface issues of climate-apocalypse fiction." -Kirkus (starred review) 

​

An original and thought-provoking novel about a neurodivergent boy's quest for independence in a post-ecological collapse dystopian America.

Twelve-year-old eternal optimist, Tristan Weekes, who is born unable to feel physical pain, grows up in the aftermath of an ecological collapse. He lives in Canland, an environmental restoration community in the California desert. As Tristan seeks the approval of his brother, Dylan—a drug-addicted satellite hacker—and his mother, Helena—a powerful population control-extremist—he struggles to comprehend the dichotomies and horrors of this seemingly idyllic new world. And when he falls in love with a climate refugee, it changes his, his family's, and his community's understanding of what's really going on Canland.

Equal parts environmental warning, philosophical quest, and family saga, this stunning debut by Daniel Vitale calls into question the nature of love, the duty of science, and what it means to belong on Earth.