The Libraries Transform Book Pick is a new digital reading program that connects readers nationwide by offering free access to the same eBook through public libraries. The program, a collaboration between the American Library Association (ALA) and Rakuten OverDrive, gives public libraries the opportunity to bring readers together to discover a new eBook and celebrate the very best in reading.

After the Flood, an inventive and riveting climate fiction saga by Kassandra Montag, will be available October 7–21. Use your library card and the Libby app to download a free copy of the eBook to your personal device. There will be no waitlists or holds for this title.  

A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water. 

Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Arctic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there.

In a starred reviewBooklist states, “Montag’s thrilling debut takes place in a future climate-change-altered world overrun by water…Anchored by a complicated, compelling heroine, this gripping, speculative, high-seas adventure is impossible to put down.” Additionally, Karin Slaughter, international bestselling author of The Last Widow, calls Montag “a visionary new talent!”   

The selection of After the Flood for the Libraries Transform Book Pick was made in consultation with experts at Booklist, the book review magazine of the ALA. A special thanks to After the Flood’s publisher William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, for their support of the Libraries Transform Book Pick.

All public libraries in the U.S. currently participating in OverDrive/Libby will be ready to lend unlimited copies of the eBook to borrowers during the reading period, which makes it a great pick for your book club. Not a member of a book club? Discuss After the Flood on social media using the hashtag #LTBookPick. You can also start a book club with friends using this discussion guide.