Laurie Halse Anderson

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.

Fever 1793

In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.

Written from the perspective of a young teenage girl Mattie, you get see how something like an epidemic forced one to grow up rather quickly. In the beginning she is stubborn and would rather sleep than do chores but by the end of she takes the reigns of her family’s coffeehouse.

I absolutely loved her grandfather who may have been old but so full of life! His character reminded me of my own grandpa so when his time had come I was deeply saddened.

I found the facts at the end to be quite enlightening and I appreciate the research that Laurie has done. She has been one of my favorite authors since I was a teenager. Her writing has always broken boundaries and gets people talking about some of the topics that are often hard to discuss or deliberately avoided. 

Christa Bell

Written from the perspective of a young teenage girl Mattie, you get see how something like an epidemic forced one to grow up rather quickly. In the beginning she is stubborn and would rather sleep than do chores but by the end of she takes the reigns of her family’s coffeehouse.

I absolutely loved her grandfather who may have been old but so full of life! His character reminded me of my own grandpa so when his time had come I was deeply saddened.

I found the facts at the end to be quite enlightening and I appreciate the research that Laurie has done. She has been one of my favorite authors since I was a teenager. Her writing has always broken boundaries and gets people talking about some of the topics that are often hard to discuss or deliberately avoided. 

Shawna Gavas

This was a great book. Accurate historical fiction based on the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793....totally my idea of a perfect read.

The story is conveyed through the eyes of Mattie, a 14 year old girl who lives in a coffeehouse run by her widowed mother and paternal grandfather. When the fever strikes, Mattie's mother becomes ill and sends Mattie away to the country to escape the threat. Only that doesn't quite go as planned and Mattie ends up contracting the fever. Although she recovers, Mattie returns home to find the her mother absent and the coffeehouse locked up tight. Did she make it? Or did her mother join the thousands taken away by the death carts for mass burial?

While Mattie prays for her safety, she ends up helping others around the city who are stricken with the fever and takes in an orphan girl named Nell. Slowly, Mattie decides to reopen the coffeehouse and take control of her life in these uncertain times.

This would be a great book to read for a school project...I read quite alot of it with my 8 year old son who was enthralled with it. I will definitely keep this one in mind for suggested future book reports!

Amber Laha

I did a film review here: http://youtu.be/ftJPzTGSHj8

Enjoyed, but felt she could have gone further with it.

Witch

I wish that I enjoyed this book more. It's a fascinating snap shot of American history that many of us missed out on in school. It's written well, and is well-paced but there's something unlikable about Mattie. I kept wishing it'd switch to Eliza's perspective instead. By the end of the book I started to warm up a bit to Mattie, but it was too late.

In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic. 10,000 first printing.

Elad Schulman

Fever is a good, easy historical fiction read. 

This book is about the epidemic that occurred in Philadelphia in 1793. Mattie Cook works in a coffeehouse with her mother, Eliza the cook, her grandfather, and her servant friend Polly. Fever spreads from house to house, starting at the docks, and it starts to affect Mattie when Polly dies at night because of it. Mattie must now fight to stay alive as the fever strikes the coffeehouse. 

(Spoiler-y)

WISHES. 

Its very hard to find a good historical fiction book, and this book was one of the better ones. I wish some of the chapters were made longer, and put in more detail, since I had to fill in the blank sometimes while reading. Mattie was a very interesting character, and I wish i could have gotten to know her better. Of course, Nathaniel was a good supporting character, and I wish we could have seen him and Mattie together more. 

WHAT WAS GOOD. 

I really liked the story line. The book was never really boring, because Mattie always had to deal with something new. It was a very well, researched book. The ending was really well written, especially the part where Mattie did get to have the coffeehouse to herself, as in the beginning of the book, it stated that she wanted to make it more than it was right now. 

(Non-spoiler-y) 

Overall, it was a very good book. I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys historical fiction, and a strong female character.

Fever 1793

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