Fever: 1793

Lauri Halse Anderson. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 272 pages. ISBN 0-689-84891-9

Plot Summary: 16-year old Maddie keeps busy working in her family’s coffee shop when an epidemic of yellow fever comes to Philadelphia. When her mother falls ill, she urges Maddie to flee the city with her grandfather. On the way to a friend’s house in the countryside, Maddie becomes ill and is separated from her grandfather. She recovers and returns to Philadelphia, only to find a city devastated by disease; her family missing or dead. Maddie must learn to take care of herself, as well as to take care of others devastated by disease.

Critical Evaluation: Fever: 1793 is an interesting portrait of the time: Philadelphia in the period immediately after the Revolutionary war. The book also gives readers a taste of what life was like for the merchant class and without modern medicine. The story is based on a true event—a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia—and is meticulously researched.. Through the trauma she endures, Maddie’s character grows from a girl interested in avoiding work to a hard-working young woman with workable goals of her own. Told from Maddie’s viewpoint, the action is fast-paced and exciting.

Reader’s Annotation: As people fall ill around you, no one knows who will be next.

About the author: Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer of books for young adults and children. Her first book, Speak was a a National Book Award Finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor book, a New York Times bestseller, and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. She wrote Speak in 1999 and has since written over 25 books for young readers.

Anderson was born in New York state and spent a year as a foreign exchange student in Denmark. She studied linguistics and modern languages at Georgetown University. After a number of diverse jobs, she began work as a journalist. She quit journalism to become a writer and worked for eight years before publishing her first novel. She has written picture books for young readers,, a series of chapter books for young readers called Vet Volunteers, as well as novels for young adults. Her novels for young adults include Catalyst, Prom, Twisted, and Winter Girls. You can learn more about Anderson at http://www.writerlady.com/

Genre: Historical fiction

Curriculum ties: U.S. history; life during Revolutionary Time; science—mosquito related illnessess

Booktalking Ideas: Discuss the role of the African Free Society in helping yellow fever victims. This began with the idea that blacks were immune to yellow fever, yet free blacks continued to serve when this idea was found to be untrue.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 10 and up. While this book is appropriate for younger readers, its subject is still of interest to older teen readers.

Challenge Issues: N/A

Why chosen: I chose this book because I read and enjoyed her book Speak. It was also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.