Read Ohio Book Discussion: Trashlands

Saturday, May 20, 3:30 pm

At Cleveland Public Library’s historic downtown Main Library (325 Superior Ave. E, Cleveland, OH 44114), 2nd floor, join us for a discussion of…

The “painful, thought-provoking apocalypse noir” novel by Ohio author Alison Stine...

TRASHLANDS

A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: garbage is currency.

In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has turned into, Coral is a “plucker,” pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She’s stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club’s violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.

Amid the polluted landscape, Coral works to save up enough to rescue her child from the recycling factories, where he is forced to work. In her stolen free hours, she does something that seems impossible in this place: Coral makes art.

When a reporter from a struggling city on the coast arrives in Trashlands, Coral is presented with an opportunity to change her life. But is it possible to choose a future for herself?

Learn more about Alison Stine at her website at alisonstine.com.