Fever 1793 (original 2000; edition 2002)

I can't help it, but I have a morbid fascination in books about plagues and other such catastrophes. It's sick, I know. But I'm always enthralled by stories such as these.

Ms. Halse Anderson's tale was a captivating one. At the beginning of our story Mattie is a young girl helping her mother at the coffehouse they own. She's stubborn, selfish (at times) and has big dreams of making the family business prosper. As the yellow fever epidemic spreads and the town and its residents either succumb to illness or have no choice but to run, Mattie grows into a brave and strong, young woman. A young woman who helps those in need and finds a way to make her dreams come true.

The story is based upon the yellow fever epidemic that struck Philadelphia in 1793 and killed some 5,000 people. Ms. Halse Anderson expertly captures the effects of the fever and how a whole city succumbs to it. I loved how descriptive the story was, making me feel as if I were living it with Mattie. With plenty of character development and excitement I found Fever: 1793 to be a very facinating read.

One last thing I'd like to mention, Ms. Halse Anderson includes an appendix at the back of the book with additional information about the people of the time and the epidemic as well as the factual people and events that she uses in her story. I found this very interesting and recommend that you don't pass up on reading that extra chapter. ( )

What would it have been like to live through a plague? Lose the ones you love? Have nowhere to go? Well-written and engaging. A good read. ( )

This book is for Young Adults, but as a 25 year old, I found it enjoyable and educational. A great, quick read that will keep you entertained. ( )

Anderson is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. She has an incredible talent for seamlessly combining history with fiction (resulting in characters that readers deeply care for).
-Reading about early medicinal practices (e.g., bleeding out) was eye-opening. In such a time of despair, people surely turned to doctors but exposure to and treatment of yellow fever was controversial.
-Following Matilda's story was incredible. She transforms from a girl irritated by household chores to a determined young woman who works day and night. I think she recognizes her own strength and realizes that it is less about doing things in a timely manner than it is about doing all one can. ( )

From the point of view of Mattie Cook, readers are captured into the life around Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic. Mattie gives a factual account of the illness, the effects and the reaction around this unfortunate time in US history. Laurie Halse Anderson gives Mattie the courage and strength to endure the tragedies she faces and learning how to survive. Readers will be attached to Mattie from the very beginning as she give us some humor during this time period. Anderson also gives accurate portrayals of the common and famous figures during this time and how they were involved in the illness and treatment. For 4th grade and up. ( )

This period piece is an excellent book about a resourceful young girl who tries to help her and her family survive the Yellow Fever epidemic in PA during Colonial times. This tough and resourceful narrator contracts the fever herseld, survives, and becomes a caretaker of her family by opening a new coffeehouse. The historical details are very accurate and a small romance also adds to the conflict. This story can educate students and allow them to see history through the eyes of a teen. ( )

This book was about a girl who lived in the older days and lived through a hard time. The yellow fever had hit her hometown hard. Hundreds of her neighbors died. Her mother wanted her to leave the town before her and her grandfather got sick. Guards were at the edge of the other town they wanted to enter. They said they could not come because her grandfather was sick. Her grandfather died but not because he was sick but because he had saved his grandaughter from robbers that were about to kill her. Her mother and father lived as well as her self.

I gave this book a four star rating because it had a lot of detail. Also because it was based on a true story. I really like this book because the author put a high vocabulary in to this book. ( )

Well my first thought while preparing to write this review is, how is it possible I'm sitting at 6/10 for the YA historical challenge?! OMG At this rate I may not complete it, boo! Okay now on to the review.

I have heard nothing but good things about Laurie Halse Anderson, but after skimming through the blurbs for Wintergirls and Speak I blanched, both times. I'm sorry I like my books happy, it's just one of those things I can control and reading sad things makes me, well, sad. So I avoid it. Fever seemed like a good pick for me because I was reading it in the middle of the semester and it was short, a children's book, and I just love historical fiction. I also didn't know much about the Yellow Fever of 1793 since I did not grew up in the US.

The book itself is short, to the point. The characters are likeable enough, Mattie is a loveable heroine, and her character develops through the story. She complains less, she becomes more responsible and she, well, grows up. In terms of the historical aspect, I can't say I learned much, the story is more about the characters. Which is a good thing since I don't like being lectured outside of class, but I know other readers may feel differently. I did like how every chapter started by quoting an original document from 1793. Overall, this is not a book that goes beyond the target audience, if you're curious and have the patience for short, children's books go for it, if not, skip it ( )

It’s 1793 in Philadelphia, and mosquitoes are carrying a disease. It spreads slowly at first. There’s a case reported here and there. Your neighbor’s servant gets it, or you hear a rumor of someone collapsing down at the docks. But it just keeps spreading, and all of a sudden, it’s your best friend, your teacher, your father’s boss. Five thousand people die. For Mattie, that includes her mother. Her father is already dead, and she’s left with just her grandfather, fighting to survive.

This is an excellent piece of historical fiction about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. The narrator is an early teenage girl named Matilda whose family operates a coffeehouse. When the fever hits, many persons begin fleeing the town. Readers will empathize with Matilda as she encounters the attitudes toward fever victims and the treatments, may of which were ineffective, that were used. The author does a good job of bringing the historical elements to life. She explained that Philadelphia was the largest city in the United States at the time and brought the death toll to life for readers when she explained how many were expected to die early in the book. I suspect that the book will be enjoyed by some younger readers and not by others, but this book would be a great springboard for discussion in classes of the epidemic, medical treatments, etc. ( )

I read this book for an eighth grade book report project and review, and I just remember the descriptions sticking with me. Very well written and portrayed with style. But this isn't my favorite of Anderson's books. ( )

As an enthusiast of Laurie Halse Anderson's previous books,I was very excited to read Fever 1793. I was not disappointed. This piece of historical fiction opened my eyes to a time in history I was naive to. Anderson draws the reader in by creating a strong passionate young character who is the heroine of this book. I very much enjoyed reading this book. ( )

Excellent historical young reader novel about the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793 from the perspective of a young girl. A look at history not unusually taught in school. ( )

As an adult reader and a lover of historical fiction, I thought this book was absolutely outstanding. Unfortunately, for my son, who is entering grade 7 (and this book is on his assigned reading list), this book has been a struggle. Unless the young reader is well versed on early post colonial American history and is able to easily draw inferences this book may be a bit of a challenge. ( )

I love historical fiction and this book by Laurie Halse Anderson is a great one! She tells the story of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia through the eyes of a young teenage girl. It is a story of survival and includes the importance of relationships.

A long, hot, humid summer led to one of the worst epidemics in America. The year was 1793, the ravaged city was, Philadelphia. In three months over five thousand people are dead, and it created a ghost town of the nation’s capitol. In Fever 1793 we relive those three months through the eyes of fourteen year old Mattie Cook.

Like everyone else at that time, Mattie and her family were unprepared for an epidemic of this nature. Nothing was known of the cause of Yellow Fever and people blamed the disease on many things never realizing that the fever was passed by mosquitoes, this fact wasn’t discovered until 1902. As we follow this small family’s experiences, we learn of how this disease transformed the city and those that lived in it. Some people stepped forward and were heroes, caring for the sick and trying to keep a steady flow of food coming into the city. Others, of a more baser nature, took this tragedy as an opportunity for looting and murder. Many fled the city in order to save themselves and their families.

Given the subject matter, I can’t say use the word enjoyable but, I did find it both engrossing and educational. As Mattie’s world turns upside down, we see a young girl discover how to rely on herself and help others. The book is quite short, and I wished the characters could have been more fully developed, but the author kept her story within the three plague months which didn’t give her a lot of room for additional material. Opening the pages of Fever 1793, was like opening a small time capsule on this event, the author painted a very real picture and I learned a great deal. ( )

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is a riveting, historical fiction novel about an actual Yellow Fever epidemic that occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the summer of 1793.

At that time, Philadelphia was the capital of the Unites States. The epidemic felled over 5,000 people (10% of the city’s population) in less than three months. Those who could flee to the country did so and those left behind in the city were faced with unfathomable hardships and tragedy.

Ms. Halse Anderson has done a superb job of bringing history to life with this captivating book. This story has stayed with me even after finishing it and I look forward to reading it with my kids this fall. This is an awesome book! ( )

SUMMARY: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, 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.

The best book I have ever read, I mean it! This frightening tale grabs you by the gut. ( )

Jason West 5-20-11

I liked the historical aspects of the novel, but I feel like the book lacked depth. I think the book should have been told in third person because the main character did not have enough thoughts and feelings. I also think Anderson could have built everyone's relationships better, especially the one with Nathaniel. Sometimes I think the book ended too convenient, but I was definitely surprised throughout the book in regards to how I thought things would turn out. I love Anderson's writing--she makes everything very clear and real sounding. ( )

Fever, 1793 is a young adult historical fiction set in Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Matilda Cook, the main character, is a girl on the verge of becoming a woman. As in many similar instances, facing hard times leads young people to mature and take on adult responsibilities and this becomes true for Mattie.

The author paints a realistic picture of life in Philadelphia during the early years of our nation and of the everyday life of its inhabitants. When yellow fever began taking lives, everything changed and turned the city and its people into something almost unrecognizable as Mattie, her family, and friends struggled to survive. The author reveals the humanity of man in the variety of reactions to this terrible disease and, at times, I wondered what would I have done in similar circumstances.

Walking in Mattie’s shoes through this story was a highly worthwhile experience and I was inspired by her strength and courage. In the end, I enjoyed the book, learned much about the time period, yellow fever, and the city of Philadelphia. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy young adult historical fiction and strong willed and determined young female heroines. ( )

Matilda Cook, 16, finding herself in the middle of the yellow fever epidemic which raged through Philadelphia in the summer of 1793, learns about self-reliance in order to make it through that awful time. The story was well done, showing the horrors of the illness, the devastation of losing so many people, the heroics of the doctors and the members of the Free African Society, the desperation of being without food – no longer having a market there yet prevented from entering any other towns. This is a history lesson with a face.

Chapters are short, and each prefaced with writings from around the time pictured. The early chapters with notes from household management books: From Chapter Six: Directions to the housemaid: Always when you sweep a room, throw a little wet sand all over it, and that will gather up all the flue and dust. -Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, 1747 Epigraphs in later chapters are excerpts from letters of the period. Chapter Twenty-two: Yesterday the worst day yet. Even those who are not sick have eyes tinged with yellow. More doctors are ill and dying. -Dr. Benjamin Rush, letter, 1793

The author's appendix was especially nice, with succinct sections about topics introduced in the text - Battle of the Doctors, Where are They Buried?, The Amazing Peale Family, Free African Society, Coffeehouses, the French Influence, Famous People Touched by the Fever, and more.

An excellent young adult historical fiction novel. ( )

I don't usually read young adult literature. As a teacher I decided to read this to have book options to offer students. The beginning was a bit slow however once this book got rolling it was wonderful. The main character is interesting and can be easily related to by most young adults. For those interested in historical fiction or for use in a class I would recommend this book. ( )