Fever 1793
| Age of Revolutions |
|---|
 Fever 1793
|
American History > Age of Revolutions > Plagues
An epidemic of yellow fever sweeps through the streets of 1793 Philadelphia in this novel from Laurie Halse Anderson where "the plot rages like the epidemic itself" (The New York Times Book Review).
During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out.
Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.
Emily's Review
This book is VIVID. When I talk about historical fiction making history come alive, this book is always at the forefront of my thoughts. In this story, we follow Mattie, a headstrong daughter of a single mother, who was also raised by her grandfather to be a soldier. She has big plans for her future following in her mother's footsteps as a businesswoman running her own coffee house and store. But when plague strikes Philadelphia in 1793, her world gets turned upside down.
There is so much to love about this story - Mattie is a fantastic and realistic character. You can tell the author put a lot of time and effort into the research behind the story. You really do feel like you are there in the thick of it. We get to see what early medicine looked like (horrific), the Free African Society and how African Americans were viewed by the northern population, even when they were considered free. The story is also an exciting tale of survival! How will Mattie make it through this calamity, where it feels like the world has ended and no where is safe? I found re-reading it in 2021 to be particularly illuminating - seeing how long it took for people to believe there was real danger with the epidemic, the difference between the ways the wealthy were able to handle the fever vs. the poor. This story is historical fiction at its finest.
Other Similar Books
Other suggestions on the subject of the Plagues.
- Like the Willow Tree (by: Lowry, Lois, Plagues, Influenza Epidemic, MG, UMG)
- Rez Dogs (by: Bruchac, Joseph, Indigenous Americans, Wabanaki Nation, COVID-19 Pandemic, Plagues, MG, UMG)
- The Birchbark House (by: Erdrich, Louise, Ojibwe Nation, Indigenous Americans, Plagues, MG, UMG)
- History Smashers: Plagues and Pandemics (by: Messner, Kate, Plagues, Pandemics, MG, UMG)
- New From Here (by: Yang, Kelly, Asian Americans, COVID-19 Pandemic, Plagues, MG, UMG)
- Fever Year: The Killer Flu of 1918 (by: Anderson, Laurie Halse, Plagues, Influenza Epidemic, UMG, YA)
- Fever 1793 (by: Anderson, Laurie Halse, Plagues, Yellow Fever, UMG)
- Wild Bird (by: Zahler, Diane, Plagues, Medieval Life, Bubonic Plague, UMG, YA)
- Master Cornhill (by: Jarvis McGraw, Eloise, Plagues, Bubonic Plague, Fires, Great Fire of London, UMG)
- Invincible Microbe (by: Murphy, Jim, Plagues, Tuberculosis, UMG, YA)
- Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague (by: Paton Walsh, Jill, Plagues, Bubonic Plague, YA, A)
- A Parcel of Patterns (by: Paton Walsh, Jill, Plagues, Bubonic Plague, YA, A)
- Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 (by: Marrin, Albert, Plagues, Influenza Epidemic, YA)
- A Death-Struck Year (by: Lucier, Makiia, Plagues, Influenza Epidemic, YA)
- In the Shadow of Blackbirds (by: Winters, Cat, Plagues, Influenza Epidemic, YA)
- The Lost Apothecary (by: Penner, Sarah, Plagues, Women in Science, London, Poison, A)