Katie McCartney is 18 and sick. After just one semester away at college, she is forced to return to the family home in the Tri-State Mining District to grapple with a debilitating illness. While in the hospital, Katie meets a member of the Quapaw Tribe, who encourages her to reclaim her own Native American roots. Katie learns that her illness and her identity are inextricably woven into the soil of the land. Set in and inspired by an EPA Superfund site in the Midwest, MISS LEAD is a cautionary tale of environmental malfeasance built on the back of a broken American dream.