Mud Season Speaker Series - Vermont Reads Book Discussion: "The Light Pirate"

Presented by Rachael Cohen
In partnership and taking place at the Brooks Memorial Library
Free Event

Join us for a thoughtful, guided conversation centered on The Light Pirate, a novel that follows one girl’s life as climate change reshapes Florida’s coast—and the meaning of home, resilience, and community. This 90-minute facilitated discussion creates space to reflect together on the book’s themes, characters, and emotional impact, while connecting the story to our own experiences and concerns about a changing world.

Participants will explore themes such as climate adaptation, loss and belonging, intergenerational wisdom, and how people respond—individually and collectively—to environmental change. No prior discussion experience is needed; all readers are welcome, whether the book moved you deeply or left you with lingering questions. Come prepared to listen, reflect, and engage in a meaningful exchange inspired by this powerful and timely novel.

Rachael Cohen has been a freelance editor specializing in environmental and regional studies, a teacher of writing, literature, and natural history, a caller of contra dances, and a farm hand. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Cornell University and a Master of Science in Environmental Education from the Audubon Expedition Institute/Lesley University. When she’s not teaching for the University of Michigan’s New England Literature Program, held each spring at a camp in New Hampshire, she’s a caretaker in southern Vermont.