This terrific memoir is a story of a public health disaster and the courageous pediatrician who provided the research that eventually forced officials to respond to the truth members of the community had been speaking, unheard. When a decision was made in 2014 to switch the source of water for the impoverished city of Flint, MI to the Flint River without adding appropriate corrosion inhibitors, lead from pipes leached into the water and poisoned the population of about 100,000 people. In addition to documenting the crisis, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the pediatric residency program at Flint’s Hurley Medical Center and a Michigan State University faculty member, poignantly describes the community she serves, her personal passions and connections, and the circumstances that drove her to investigate and publicize the crisis. I also worked at MSU when the disaster unfolded and lived less than 50 miles from Flint. I was appalled and saddened, and proud of the people who worked tirelessly to move forward in a positive way. For those (like me) who love a good detective story, particularly one grounded in science and full of positive human nature, I highly recommend this read. If only it were fiction…

– Juli Wade
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University of Connecticut

Who is Juli Wade? In December 2018, Juli Wade was named the new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Prior to this, Professor Wade was the Associate Provost at Michigan State University, where she had joined the psychology department in 1995. She received her Bachelors’ degree in psychology from Cornell University and her doctorate from the University of Texas. Wade’s research focuses on understanding “how structural and biochemical changes within the central nervous system regulate behavior, using lizards and songbirds as model organisms.” Read more about Dean Wade in UConn Today.