Name: What the Eyes Don't See
ISBN: 9780525590590

Mona Hanna-Attisha

The definitive first-hand account of the Flint water crisis, which poisoned thousands and left a city without safe water for years, written by the crusading pediatrician at the center of the fight for justice, who Erin Brockovich named "a true American hero."

A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

What the Eyes Don't See

Lizzy Jensen

This is an excellent retelling of the whistleblowing on the Flint water crisis. I felt emotional as I neared the end, grateful for Dr. Mona’s persistence and resilience. I loved how she weaves stories of her Iraqi ancestry and Michigan labor strikes in the 20th century in with her recounting of the water crisis. It made her book all the more poignant, personal, and powerful. I felt there were a few unnecessary political quips and asides on her part (very few), but I also loved how much her personality shone through in this. I had to Google the video of her shaking her head at the January 2016 press conference with Governor Snyder. Iconic. 

Yoomi

Could not put this down. Dr. Mona tells her story beautifully and her love of Flint and the children comes through. The “why” is so important.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • The dramatic story of the Flint water crisis, by a relentless physician who stood up to power. “Stirring . . . [a] blueprint for all those who believe . . . that ‘the world . . . should be full of people raising their voices.’”—The New York Times “Revealing, with the gripping intrigue of a Grisham thriller.” —O: The Oprah Magazine Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, alongside a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water—and then battled her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. Paced like a scientific thriller, What the Eyes Don’t See reveals how misguided austerity policies, broken democracy, and callous bureaucratic indifference placed an entire city at risk. And at the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself—an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family’s activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice. What the Eyes Don’t See is a riveting account of a shameful disaster that became a tale of hope, the story of a city on the ropes that came together to fight for justice, self-determination, and the right to build a better world for their—and all of our—children. Praise for What the Eyes Don’t See “It is one thing to point out a problem. It is another thing altogether to step up and work to fix it. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a true American hero.”—Erin Brockovich “A clarion call to live a life of purpose.”—The Washington Post “Gripping . . . entertaining . . . Her book has power precisely because she takes the events she recounts so personally. . . . Moral outrage present on every page.”—The New York Times Book Review “Personal and emotional. . . She vividly describes the effects of lead poisoning on her young patients. . . . She is at her best when recounting the detective work she undertook after a tip-off about lead levels from a friend. . . . ‛Flint will not be defined by this crisis,’ vows Ms. Hanna-Attisha.”—The Economist “Flint is a public health disaster. But it was Dr. Mona, this caring, tough pediatrican turned detective, who cracked the case.”—Rachel Maddow

Ella Dohrmann

The story of a significant environmental disaster and tale of a relentless physician who stood up to power. Shortly after the city of Flint shifted the source of its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint Fiver, citizens began complaining about the water but officials rebuffed them. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician at the city's public hospital, had no reason to be concerned about the water and encouraged the parents and children in her care to continue drinking it. But a conversation at a cookout with an old friend, leaked documents from a rogue environmental inspector, and the activism of a concerned mother raised red flags about lead--a neurotoxin whose irreversible effects fall most heavily on children. This book is the story of how Dr. Mona--accompanied by a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders--proved that Flint's kids were exposed to lead and then fought her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. At the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself--an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family's activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice.--Adapted from jacket.

What the Eyes Don't See A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

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