A collection of essays and personal narratives, the book captures a confounding, contradictory city, proving that Flint is far more than the common narrative of an industrial town picking itself up after a big company has moved out or as the site of a devastating public health crisis. The stories delve into the lives within the city—what it was like to be a child on the east side; how it feels to be a parent today, without clean water; who is able to truly lay claim to being “from Flint;” and what it means to finally leave—or to stay, even when bikes, jewelry, or love continually disappear.