Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
Comments
Reviewed by Nayri T., grade 9.
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
"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
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
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