As much as this is a story about well-founded mistrust of one’s government, Dr. Hanna-Attisha repeatedly refers to the idea of hope and speaks of herself and her family members as idealists. In chapter 4, she teaches her daughters about idealists, describing an idealist as “someone who believes the world can be better than it is now.” She also fondly remembers Haji, her grandfather, who is mentioned several times in the text, as an idealist and inspiration. However, idealism cannot exist without hope; simply believing in the possibility that the world can be better is not the same as hoping for it to be better, and one must hope for a better world in order to then act upon this hope and make a better world. Hope is established as a theme early in the book, as Dr. Hanna-Attisha explains that her first name, Mona, means just that.

In many ways, it is Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s hope and idealism that act as the underlying motivation for the entire story. Certainly, this is a story about moral outrage. But this outrage is rooted in the idea that the world should be more equitable than it is now and that governments ought to care about the well-being of those that they are supposed to protect. The issue of the lead-tainted water in Flint is also only an aspect of where Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s outrage and hope are directed. While the water crisis is certainly the catalyst for the story, by the end of the narrative, the author has done everything in her power to improve the Flint community in a multitude of ways. Her example encourages her readers also to become idealists, to consider human needs, to imagine a better world, and to act to improve our own communities.

In this story, it is impossible to remove Flint’s history from its current events. It is also impossible to remove the history of governmental and industrial negligence and callousness from Flint’s water crisis, and Dr. Hanna-Attisha devotes several chapters to these ideas. While she does not seem to be saying that history is doomed to repeat itself, she does seem to imply that once a precedent has been established, it is difficult to change. History in this narrative might be likened to a rolling stone gathering speed to the point where what is currently happening is inevitable. History creates a constellation of networks and ideas that are difficult to fight against, and this leads to the present. For instance, Dr. Hanna-Attisha states in the text that no one person is responsible for the Flint water crisis. Instead, the crisis has occurred because of a history of poverty and racism in Flint, as well as policies that remove culpability from businesses, a general attitude toward whistleblowers, governmental interests, and more. History sets the stage for the present, and any one change in history might have entirely changed what occurs in the present.

Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s immediate family holds a somewhat ambivalent place in the story. While the author has a supportive husband and two daughters, they appear as something of a backdrop to the plot. On the other hand, Dr. Hanna-Attisha begins the prologue by listing most of her extended family members, and she devotes other chapters to giving lengthy descriptions and life histories of some of her other relatives. The epilogue focuses on her grandfather, Haji, and tells a fantastical story about him. If it is the case that the author’s immediate family does not receive much attention, her extended family, especially those who are distant or no longer alive, are given...