Citation:
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever,
1793. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2000. Print.
Annotation:
Mattie lives in Philadelphia in the late 1700’s. She works
in her family’s coffee shop. Then down at the city’s dock, yellow fever starts
to strike illness and fear in people. As the city clears out in panic over the
epidemic, Mattie too must find a way to survive and help her family.
Nomination Justification:
This book deals with a girl coming of age in a situation
where she may not actually live. All around her, society is in upheaval due to
a deadly outbreak of Yellow Fever. No one knows how or why everyone is getting
sick. Like teens of any time period, she did not always get along or appreciate
her mother. That changes when her mom gets sick. Mattie also has to deal with
the death of people she cares about when her friend gets sick and dies. That is
not the only person she loses in this story. The author does go into somewhat
gruesome detail about some of the deaths. It’s not easy to read if you’re
sensitive to that type of thing in literature. Because parents of other
children have dies, Mattie decides to help a couple kids even though it might
put her more at risk. There is also a love interest in the book. It might seem
typical for a YA to have that but against the backdrop of the epidemic and
historical place, the courtship can hold a YA reader’s attention. Also of note
when it comes to it being a historical book, the author did a fair amount of
research and kept the dialog old school 1700’s style. In keeping with the time,
the author does not shy away from including African-Americans as part of the
story and Mattie’s family. I think this book gives all readers a chance to
glimpse life in 1793 and how things are different but family, friends and love
always have power in a teen’s life. Mattie is a tough character who makes you
cheer for her to live and thrive. Luckily the book ends on a high note.
Genre: Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Death
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