Continuing in the universe of Not a Drop to Drink (2013), McGinnis turns again to disease, death, and slivers of hope. When a polio outbreak seemingly erupts from a nearby pond e only local source of drinking water d threatens to wipe out their town's population, Lucy and her adoptive mother, Lynn, journey from Ohio to California. In a world where water is worth more than gold, the Californians still have desalination factories, which make for a whole lot of "drinkable ocean." Immensely readable, this sequel follows an especially raw, tough, and brave mother-daughter duo as they fight their way across the country toward a (hopefully?) better life.

Lucy (the orphan Lynn saved in Not a Drop to Drink), now a teenager, lives in relative safety with friends and her adopted family. But after a polio outbreak--potentially stemming from their pond--devastates the community, Lucy and Lynn set out for California, which is rumored to have desalination plants. McGinnis's bleak but skillful narrative explores what it means to hope and to survive.