The Drowning of Money Island: A Forgotten Community’s Fight Against the Rising Seas Threatening Coastal America

Lewis, a journalist and former resident of South Jersey’s Bayshore region, chronicles locals’ struggles to recover homes and livelihoods following Hurricane Sandy and in the face of climate change. When Sandy hit the New Jersey coast, Lewis, then living in California, jumped on a plane to “cover the recovery,” arriving on the devastated Money Island just days after Sandy’s landfall. Discovering further environmental threats apart from Sandy, including rising sea and sinking land levels, Lewis pinpoints what he calls the Bayshore’s primary existential conundrum—“would the place crawl back from the brink of extinction on the backs of the [local fishermen]... or would its revival come from conservationists?” He also questions the unequal levels of financial aid, favoring wealthier Jersey Shore regions, provided after the storm. Lewis’s narrative transitions—among childhood memories, 2012–2013 relief efforts, and present-day stories—can be choppy and even confusing. Still, he exhibits a dogged determination to tell the complete story, interviewing politicians, visiting local board meetings, and sharing often heartbreaking stories of residents who remain despite losing “their American dream.” Lewis’s thoughtful, probing study is most adept at distilling the complexities of post-Sandy recovery, posing the question: “Why one group of people and the land they lived upon [is] not as important as another?” (Oct.)