Author Series Information
In April of 2026 the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation’s Student Author Series will bring Lily Brooks Dalton. Lily’s book—The Light Pirate—was the runner-up in fiction in 2023.
Lily Brooks-Dalton was born and raised in southern Vermont. Her first book, Motorcycles I’ve Loved: A Memoir, published in 2015 by Riverhead, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Her first novel, Good Morning, Midnight, was published the next year by Random House, and it has been translated into 17 languages, with a film adaptation as The Midnight Sky, in December 2020, starring and directed by George Clooney.
Brooks-Dalton earned a BA at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a MFA at Portland State University.
Lily’s The Light Pirate, a #1 Indie Next pick for December 2022, a Good Morning America Book Club selection, one of NPR’s “Books We Love,” and a New York Times Editors’ Pick. She is a former writer-in-residence at The Kerouac House and The Studios of Key West, and currently lives in Los Angeles.
As devastating weather patterns wreak gradual havoc on Florida’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Wanda, named for the terrible storm she was born into, grows up in a landscape abandoned by civilization. Moving from childhood to adulthood, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature.
Author Series Membership
With an Author Series membership, the teacher(s) will have access to our curriculum for Lily Brooks Dalton’s The Light Pirate, which offers thoughtful analytical and interpretive work for high school and college classrooms. Teachers will also find opportunities to connect these works to familiar texts already in their classrooms to explore similar ideas and themes.
Use of the curriculum is not mandatory, but teachers will find it an effective tool to not only teach about the novel and its relationship with peace, but also to:
Assist students in connecting with the theme of peace as it relates to the featured category
- Examine the literary techniques that the author chooses to convey the theme of the book
- Connect historical elements of the book to the characters and themes and the students
- Draw meaning from the author’s writing choices
- Give students a path by which to empathize with the main characters in the chosen book
- Provide students with a reflective device on which to focus on their own belief and value systems
- Build a knowledge base through which to track the characters’ and their own journey to understanding of the “other”
- Offer an opportunity for students to openly express their ideas and opinions as they relate to the theme the book explores
- Discuss how an individual determines behaviors and actions toward others
Students will attend the live event with Lily Brooks Dalton and have the opportunity to ask questions.
Students will have the opportunity to have their books signed by the author.
A video of the event will be available to member schools for future use.
The school will receive a class set of 25 copies of The Light Pirate (totaling 25 books) and additional copies can be ordered at a greatly reduced price.
The cost of a membership is $500 made payable to Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation.
Please reach out to Emily Moore at [email protected] if you are interested in joining or have questions.
We welcome any and all schools to become a part of the DLPP Author Series. If you know of other teachers throughout the area, please have them contact us.
Curriculum Synopsis
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize curriculum for Lily Brooks Dalton’s The Light Pirate offers thoughtful analytical and interpretive work for high school and college classrooms. Access to the curriculum for The Light Pirate produced for our Teaching Peace through Literature series that adheres to state and national standards and includes:
- A suggested reading schedule with daily reading, writing, and discussion activities as well as additional resources available to teachers.
Within the curriculum, each of a series of lessons based on The Light Pirate also includes the following procedures:
- Self Induction
- Development
- Questions
- Closure and Assessment
- Follow Up
- Reflective Self Evaluation
Each lesson also includes the following:
- Goals with Relevant Standards and Benchmark Indicators
- Behavioral Objectives
- Materials
- Prerequisite Knowledge
- Worksheets and Handouts
This curriculum can be used as written or adapted into an existing curriculum. The teacher is provided all of the instructional materials and will use them as fits the school’s needs.
Participating teachers and students will be able to engage with Lily Brooks Dalton during the Author Series Conversation, scheduled for April 16, 2026.