Library holds community reading adventure

IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Carnegie Library and Michigan Humanities invites area residents to join in reading “What the Eyes Don’t See.”

Written by Dr Mona Hanna Attisha’a, the book recounts her discovery that Flint’s children were being poisoned by lead in the city’s drinking water.

Michigan Humanities chose the book for the 2019 -20 Great Michigan Read.

According to a press release issued by the Ironwood Carnegie Library, The Great Michigan Read connects Michigan residents by “deepening readers’ understanding of our state, our society, and our humanity.”

Shelly Hendrick Kasprzycki, Michigan Humanities president and CEO, says she hopes “What the Eyes Don’t See” will encourage Michigan citizens to read, discuss and learn from the book.

“Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha’s willingness to fight for children and tirelessly advocate for change in and beyond Michigan will have readers cheering as she follows the science and her young patients’ experiences to uncover one of the state’s worst public health catastrophes,” Kasprzycki said according to the release.

Hanna-Attisha founded and is director of the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative. Currently an associate professor of pediatrics and human development at MSU College of Human Medicine, she has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis.

Hanna-Attisha said she was honored to have her book chosen for the Great Michigan Read.

“From the resistance of the Flint sit-down strikers to the reign of demagogue Charles Coughlin, Michigan’s DNA is full of history – some good and some bad and some shared and some hidden – which we must understand in order to address our present-day challenges,” she said. “Like so many Michiganders, my story is an immigrant story. It was critical to share this part of the story in this memoir because it informs how I see the world and the work that I am privileged to do.”

The Library is partnering with Michigan Humanities to distribute free books and support educational materials in the Ironwood area.

For more information about participating in the Great Michigan Read visit the Ironwood Public Library

— Bryan Hellios