Fever 1793

Fever 1793
By Laurie Halse Anderson
Maddie is a young teen living in Philadelphia in 1793.  Her father has died, but she helps her mother run a successful coffee shop.  One day in September one of their serving girls dies suddenly of a mysterious illness.  Soon others around the city are dying and word gets around that it is Yellow Fever. Maddie and her mother try to keep the coffee house open, but then her mother falls ill. Maddie flees the city with her grandfather, but when they both fall ill, they are left to the winds of fate.

This is a vivid look at a brief, but devastating flu epidemic. Although the story is fictional, it is based on a real event and Anderson uses carefully researched detail to put the reader into the experience.  Maddie is a strong and appealing character and her story is both exciting and harrowing.