“Pediatrician Hendrickson debuts with an affecting report on climate change’s dire effects on young people. Hendrickson—who practices in Reno, Nev., the ‘fastest-warming city in the United States’—recounts such heartbreaking stories as watching a mother struggle to comfort her four-year-old son, who was hospitalized after wildfire smoke gave him respiratory problems…a boy from Houston, Tex., who was traumatized after barely escaping severe flooding from Hurricane Harvey when he was five, and a sixth grader from Phoenix, Ariz., who died of heatstroke….Such accounts are harrowing, and Hendrickson describes in disturbing detail how the body is affected by air pollution and extreme heat….This visceral study is not easily forgotten.”
“The quality of the writing matches the depth of her feeling and thinking, as well as the importance and urgency of the crisis we face.…There is a moral clarity to The Air They Breathe, one that ultimately shows that when it comes to climate change, it is not just statistics; it is in our hands. And for our children's sakes, we must change.”
“But most importantly, Hendrickson does not focus only on the negatives. She also highlights opportunities to build a better world for current and future children, making sure that there are paths forward for everyone. As Hendrickson says, "Surely our science will yield more than a chronicle of our end." The Air They Breathe is a necessary work for anyone looking to understand how climate action's long-term effects are even more expansive and vital to prioritize.”