It’s late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting. Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse. But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn’t get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate. New customers have overrun her family’s coffee shop, … shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie’s concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family’s small business into a thriving enterprise. But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie’s struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive.
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Fever 1793 is a wonderful fictional story about a real, and tragic, event. It drew me in with the fiction but kept me fascinated with the facts and I found myself searching the web to learn more about yellow fever and this heartbreaking epidemic. This is a story that, once read, will stay with you for a very long time.
Grim yet realistic.
love it all of y’all should read it
This is book is filled with many emotions and moments where you can relate to the characters. It is very well written.
it was very sad and heart warming. it made me cry and thats when you know its a good book.
This is a great historical fiction for middle school through adults. I don’t remember being taught anything about the yellow fever epidemic that consumed Philadelphia in 1793 so I was really interested after reading the description.
In the beginning of the book, Mattie Cook is a typical kid with big hopes and dreams. She often butted heads with her hard-working mother who owned and operated a coffee shop. The shop was normally packed all day, but as the fever spread, more and more people fled to the country leaving Philadelphia a ghost town.
Mattie came down with the fever after being stranded in the middle of nowhere by a family that she had paid to take her and her grandfather to a friends farm outside the city. She was found laying by the side of the road by French nurses who took her and her grandfather to their hospital.
Mattie recovered and returned to Philadelphia to look for her mother. Instead, she saw people dying in the streets and carts full of the dead being taken to mass graves. Her mother was not at home and the shop had been ransacked. Food was in such short supply everyone ate very little.
You can feel the pain, sorrow, and determination on every page. Mattie’s character evolves and grows up quickly. She kept going through it all never giving up or loosing faith that her mother was alive and would return to town.
The first frost of fall came with a huge celebration, marking the end of the yellow fever pandemic. Philadelphia’s once hauntingly silent streets were packed with Philadelphians eager to return home. At the time, Philadelphia was the capital of the growing United States. When president Washington returned to the city, the last of the residents came home.
I enjoyed this quick historical read and highly recommend it to middle grades and up. It gives the reader a glimpse into the struggle of staying alive in a time when there were no treatments.
As always, happy reading!
Mattie was a strong and admirable female protagonist, who is a great role model for young girls. She must grow up almost overnight to deal with an epidemic, but she manages to handle many mature situations with strength and dignity. The story chronicles an interesting piece of American history that I didn’t previously know much about. Highly recommended for kids middle grade or older who enjoy historical fiction.
I read this book a few years ago for school. I can’t remember if I liked it then, but I read it again later and it turned into probably my favorite book. I’ve shown it to my friends and they’ve said that they couldn’t put it down. I think I’ve read Fever three times and I plan to again!
I read Fever 1793 for a school project and although I don’t usually enjoy historical fiction, I actually kind of enjoyed this book. Ever since I read it, I have started reading more books by Laurie Halse Anderson and she is by far one of my favorite authors ever.
Had to read this book for school. The plot flows easily and its super action-packed!
A good YA novel.
I read this book and didn’t even realize it was a “teen” novel. The development of characters is fabulous
Absolutely love this book. I’m definitely adding this to my favorites pile of books I have at home.
This book isn’t AWESOME!!!!!
History told from an original point of view. Great characters, very informative.
Boring and not interesting at all