Book Review-Fever 1793

Audio books are a wonderful invention.  You can listen to a book while doing something that may not require your whole attention, like housework or exercising.  I've recenlty started walking during my lunch hours, so naturally I decided to "read" at the same time by listening to an audiobook through our Overdrive collection. I decided to read Fever, 1793 a fictionalized account of the yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia in 1793.  It is actually a Young Adult novel with a teenaged protaganist.  I thought it was fascinating.  The story is told by Mattie Cook, a 14 year old whose mother runs a coffee house.  The author goes into a lot of detail of how people lived in 1793 Philadelphia, in addition to the yellow fever outbreak itself.  I was interested enough that I looked it up to see how much was actual history vs fiction, and was pleasantly surprised at how much was fact.  It was also interesting to learn that although we now know what causes yellow fever (spread through mosquitios) there is still no cure. This is a great book if you like colonial settings, stories told from a younger person's perspective, stories about how natural disasters affect people, or historical fiction in general.  Because it is a young adult book it is a bit shorter than adult books and is less graphic.  A very enjoyable book.

Fever 1793 By Anderson, Laurie Halse 2002-03 - Aladdin Paperbacks 9780689848919 Check Our Catalog In 1793 the Cook Coffeehouse outside of Philadelphia is a haven for those fleeing from the fever sweeping across the mosquito-infested city. Fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook loses her childhood playmate to the fever and struggles to keep her family and its business alive. HPL patron:  In this book the main character, Mattie, has to grow up and learn how to be a woman at an early age while the Yellow Fever creeps closer to her home.  It is a very good book. …More

Other books by the same author.

Catalyst By Anderson, Laurie Halse 2003-09 - Speak 9780142400012 Check Our Catalog From the author of "Speak" comes a novel that confronts the conundrum of young adult life. Kate manages her life by organizing it as logically as the periodic table. She can handle it all--or so she thinks. Then things dramatically change. …More

Speak By Anderson, Laurie Halse 2011-05 - Square Fish 9780312674397 Check Our Catalog In this powerful novel, a teenage heroine delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. …More

Chains By Anderson, Laurie Halse 2010-01 - Atheneum Books 9781416905868 Check Our Catalog A National Book Award finalist. At the start of the Revolutionary War, Isabelis sold to a cruel loyalist family, even though she has been promised freedomby her former owner. Soon faced with the choice of working for or against theBritish, Isabel chooses to work with anyone who can help her. 5 1/8 x7 5/8. …More

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Good-Bye Billy Radish By Skurzynski, Gloria 1996-10 - Turtleback Books 9780613004701 Check Our Catalog This is the poignant story of the friendship between two boys, Hank Kerner and Bazyli Radichevych, called Billy Radish, set in the steel town of Canaan, Pennsylvania, in 1917. Thge boys are very different, for while Hank considers himself all-American, Billy is a Ukrainian immigrant straddling two cultures. As World War I rages overseas, both boys are faced with some difficult questions. …More