The book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl who survived the yellow fever in Philadelphia. In the beginning of the story, Matilda Cook, the main character, was just an ordinary girl who lived with her mom and grandfather who owned a coffeehouse. She was living a peaceful life until yellow fever broke out and many people started to die off. Matilda and her grandfather left the city to countryside in a wagon to flee from the disease but were left in the middle of nowhere because of the grandfather's bad health. To make things worse, Matilda got the fever and was moved to a hospital. In conclusion, this book is the story of a girl who went through the yellow fever of 1793.I personally like this book very much because this was the first novel I've ever read in English, and it was easy to understand with fairly easy vocabularies. When I was reading the book, I was totally drawn to the characters and the setting of the book, which is Philadelphia of 1793. I could mentally picture every single scene in my head because of the author's excellent writing skills. The story is well-made, with sad and heart-touching scenes in between. This story of the young girl who helped others encouraged me to be bold and fearless with all the hard and difficult situations. I strong recommend this book to others, especially to people who don't really like to read a long and difficult book.
-Reviewed by Sunyoung, grade 9.
6 comments:
Since I love Laurie Halse Anderson's book, I figured I would love this one too. I was right, I really did like this book. The plot of the book is very original and unique, it's really hard to find a book with this type of content for teens and in general. Her writing style is one of my favorites because she puts everything clearly. What I didn't like about this book is how it gets very sad because I much rather prefer happier and lighter toned and mood books. I would recommend this book to teens, both girls and guys.
Reviewed by Nayri T., grade 9.
Philadelphia in the 1700s was known as the golden city in America. The Cook's family cookhouse was a success, and costumers frequently visited. When the fever first struck, it was dismissed as a lowly illness that would soon go away. As hundreds died every day, people began to see it was a major problem. Mattie and her grandfather tried to escape to another city. But just as they reached the border, they were stopped. Mattie's grandfather had the fever. Now, Mattie and her grandfather had to battle their way through despite the fever.
This book is for a more high level reader. It is an interesting story to read, but it would be harder for a younger reader to understand. This book was a historical fiction. The fever was something that happened, but the characters were fictional. This book was recommended to me by my teacher.
Reviewed by Anisa, Grade 8
Casa Verdugo Library
This book is about the atrocious disease that hit Philadelphia in 1793. One of its main characters is Matilda who is a young lazy girl who starts taking more and more responsibilities as the plot progresses. Matilda and her family which consists of her, her mom, and her grandpa own a little coffee shop in one of the main streets of the city. After the epidemic of the yellow fever arrises, people start ditching Philadelphia, including Matilda herself because of the unfortunate event of Matilda's mom getting horribly sick. She and her Grandma get kicked out of their ride because of the fear to spread the disease they didn't contain. Matilda and her Grandpa keep running into more trouble, but it's a long journey until everything settles back.
"Fever 1793" was one of the best books I ever read. I was intrigued by it because the book takes you to the journey that happens throughout the story. There is a lot of conflicts which brings even more fun to the book. I think people who are interested in conflict, and adventure would most likely enjoy reading this book. The book made me feel like I was involved and made me feel all the chaos that was going on in these times. I suggest everybody pick this book as their next novel to read!
Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 8
Casa Verdugo Library
"Fever 1793" is a historical fiction written by Laurie Halse Anderson. The story follows a fourteen years old girl named Matilda Cook and her family. Matilda Cook and her family is living a peaceful life in Philadelphia, but disaster strikes when the yellow fever breaks out. Suddenly, everyone starts to get infected. Almost everyone who gets infected, loses their lives. Naturally, this fever also starts to affect Matilda and her family.
This was probably my first book that I did not want to read. Not because it was boring, I did not want to read it because the book was just too grief-stricken. In the end, it remained as one of my favorite books. It just teaches you a lot while you're reading it. I believe that people around the ago of twenty will like this book. This book made me think of the death that I will face one day. It also helped me to not be afraid of the death. Overall, this is a book that's very meaningful and will teach you a lot about life and death.
Reviewed by Jonah, Grade 9
Glendale Central Library
This book follows the story of 14 year old Matilda cook or "Mattie". Our story takes place during the hot summer of Philadelphia. Mattie is a typical teenager: she has her head in the clouds and is always daydreaming. She often runs into arguments with her mother Lucille, she has urges to run away or rebel, and she is quite witty and sarcastic. Mattie soon finds herself in a whirlwind of illness all around her, and has to figure out how to survive all on her own. She meets new faces, and sees some familiar ones on her dangerous adventure. She learns more about herself, and how to survive.
In my opinion, this book displays characters and events that I found really interesting to learn more about. I feel that this book is very historically accurate and easy to follow, while not being boring or slow. While the story does take a minute to pick up in the beginning, it gets very entertaining and suspenseful. This remains one of my favorite (if not my favorite) book I've read. The book does get quite graphic with the description of illness so maybe it's not for the faint of heart.
Reviewed by Angelina R., Grade 9
Montrose Library
Fever 1793 is about a sixteen year old girl in Philadelphia named Mathilda cook. During 1793 the yellow fever epidemic strikes during the summer and she gets separated from her mother. She has to survive the epidemic alone after being separated from her mother. Mathilda is stuck with her friend Eliza and during that time she helps Eliza at the Free African Society, treating ill patients from the yellow fever. After the fever passes she reopens her family coffeeshop and finds her mother who was also sick during the epidemic. After everything the city moves forward with their lives post epidemic and continue living on.
This book is very interesting and the very minor details are clever. Towards the end of the pandemic, Mathilda pushes out her furniture from the coffeeshop once winter starts to kill off all the bacteria on the furniture. Small details like that are crazy and you don't really think an author would take into consideration such things. This book is truly amazing and is worth a read from start to finish, as it shows a young girl survive on her own and use her quick wits in such a tragic time to persevere. The book felt historical but also didn't feel like a chore to read.
Reviewed by E.N., Grade 12
Casa Verdugo Library
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