The Parable of the Sower
By Octavia E. Butler (1993)

In Parable of the Sower, award-winning science fiction author Octavia E. Butler tells the story of Lauren Olamina, a teenager living in a walled neighborhood near Los Angeles in the mid-2020s.  Here, global climate change, water shortages, drugs, economic crises, and more has led to social chaos.  To make matters more precarious for Lauren, she suffers from hyper-empathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others’ emotions. Lauren’s fight for survival leads to unexpected collaboration and the birth of a new faith.