I first read this book back in middle school for a class. I know that in my experience, some books I've read for classes were fantastic and I still remember them to this day. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is one of those books. This books won awards and rightfully so. It is an entertaining and informative piece of young adult, historical fiction.
Mattie Cook lives in the bustling city of Philadelphia with her mother and grandfather. The family runs their own coffee shop where people gather to talk, play cards and drink anything nonalcoholic. Mattie wishes to help her family increase their business and has big dreams of her own. Yet things take a turn for the worse when sickness comes to the city. Polly, their servant girl, gets sick with what the locals call the "grippe." This is the dreaded Yellow Fever and the deadly sickness spreads through the city. People are suffering in the city so those well enough leave for the country in hopes that the disease won't follow. Mattie's mother contracts Yellow Fever and urges her daughter to leave the city and flee to the country with her grandfather. When she finally returns, the coffeehouse is ransacked and the city is in shambles. Yet Mattie does not give up. Using her resilient and resourceful nature, the young girl and her elderly grandfather work to find away to survive after the Yellow Fever and its devastating effects.
I've read this book twice and will most likely read it again in the future. It's a book that is written to middle school readers but is great for older readers as well. The characters are well written and the plot is well paced. Also, the historical aspects of the novel are extremely accurate, creating a fiction account that could have been a true story. Even though the subject matter is sad and many horrible things happen, there is so much hope. Things improve and people keep moving forward. The author does a wonderful job of reminding the reader that their is always a chance that things will improve and they so often do. I recommend this book for readers middle school and up. This would be a great book to read together as a family.
~Abigail C.
Commenti