Patron Review ~ Fever 1793

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Published: 2000
Genre: Young Adult, Historic Fiction,
Description:
On the heels of her acclaimed contemporary teen novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson surprises her fans with a riveting and well-researched historical fiction. Fever 1793 is based on an actual epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia that wiped out 5,000 people--or 10 percent of the city's population--in three months. At the close of the 18th century, Philadelphia was the bustling capital of the United States, with Washington and Jefferson in residence. During the hot mosquito-infested summer of 1793, the dreaded yellow fever spread like wildfire, killing people overnight. Like specters from the Middle Ages, gravediggers drew carts through the streets crying "Bring out your dead!" The rich fled to the country, abandoning the city to looters, forsaken corpses, and frightened survivors.

In the foreground of this story is 16-year-old Mattie Cook, whose mother and grandfather own a popular coffee house on High Street. Mattie's comfortable and interesting life is shattered by the epidemic, as her mother is felled and the girl and her grandfather must flee for their lives. Later, after much hardship and terror, they return to the deserted town to find their former cook, a freed slave, working with the African Free Society, an actual group who undertook to visit and assist the sick and saved many lives. As first frost arrives and the epidemic ends, Mattie's sufferings have changed her from a willful child to a strong, capable young woman able to manage her family's business on her own. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

Review by patron, Isabelle:
It was very informative about when yellow fever first broke out. It was very good.

---

Have you been to a library program or read a book you'd like to review? Send it to kwill@lmelibrary.org and it may get published!

First names only are used in all reviews for privacy. Inappropriate or defamatory reviews or comments will not be posted.

Reviews are typed exactly as patrons submitted them. The LME Library is not responsible for any incorrect or misspelled information contained in reviews by patrons.