Fever 1793

Fever 1793. Laurie Halse Anderson. New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000. 252 pages. $16.00 (Hardcover). ISBN 0-689-83858-1. Grades 5-12.

The summer of 1793 was scorching and fourteen-year-old Matilda Cook would rather have been fishing, wandering town, or contemplating her future as the owner of the greatest business in Philadelphia than doing the chores of her tardy housekeeper. Little did she know that yellow fever and all its unpleasantness were to blame for Polly’s absence and what was to become the worst summer of her life. As August raged on rumors of a deadly fever accompanied by incontrollable vomiting, jaundice, and death spread through Philadelphia. While Mattie’s family tried to remain calm amidst fleeing neighbors and government officials, it soon became impossible to do so. Mattie watches as her mother falls ill and must use all her might to keep going.  This well researched, detail filled novel will have young people excited about history and engaged in the struggles faced by Philadelphians in 1793. Readers will learn of the general destruction and terror gripping the city as well as experience the personal fears and struggles of someone their own age. Key historical figures like Dr. Benjamin Rush, George Washington, and Stephen Girard; as well as the Free African Society are all introduced with accuracy and emphasis to pique interest and increase learning. Today’s teens will be thankful for modern medicine, technology, and standard of living. Highly Recommended.

My Thoughts...

I just want to say I am so glad that I read An American Plague before reading Fever 1793. I felt so much more involved in the story since I knew who and what were real and where these different streets were in relation to each other. I was also thankful that while gruesome and painful, the descriptions of both Philadelphia and yellow fever were not as nauseating and descriptive in this title as the previous one. I really felt like I was with Mattie on her journey, and every time a mosquito was mentioned on, near, or around her I got nervous. I really enjoyed the history and the quotes used at the beginning of each chapter, and thought that they framed the fictional story within the fact really well. I was amazed at how the characters were developed as the story went on and loved that though we were only ‘with them’ for a few months we saw each one grow up or at least saw their stories out to the end. I was glad to see that Anderson included so many of the key players and details that I learned about in Murphy’s book. I also really enjoyed learning more about the Peale family and other notables. I do wish she would have cited her sources, but I know it would be a ton of work for her and I should just get over it. I really did enjoy this title and know I would use this and books like it if I was ever to teach history.  

Potential Reaction...

Matilda Cook is the same age as or very close to it, as the intended audience for this book. This similarity in age is one way that readers will be able to connect with and understand the story, even though her experiences are worlds different to any they have encountered. The voice and fears of this young girl, however, will help readers put themselves in her shoes. That being said, her shoes are painful and sad, and I think young adults will find themselves thanking their lucky stars they live in the 21^st century and not in 1793. I also think they will be amazed by the story of the yellow fever and how hard everyone had to fight to live. While this story is fiction, it is based on fact, as the notes at the end of the book explain. I think that readers may think the horror of the setting is made up, but I think if a teacher or librarian paired this book with Murphy’s American Plague they would soon realize how true and terrifying it really was. I also think young adults would enjoy the suspense aspect of the novel. We are in Mattie’s shoes and just as much in the dark as she is about her Mother, the fever, and the predicament of Philadelphia in general. I think readers will want to know what comes next. I also think that the little romance that takes place between Mattie and Nathaniel will interest female readers, while the violence of looters and talk of blood will interest boys. I think that this book can stand on its own as an interesting historical fiction novel and that readers will like it. I also think it could attract young adults to books on similar topics or of similar styles.

Reminds Me Of...

I have a very smart professor who told me to read Fever 1793 after reading Jim Murphy’s An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. This was a smart move indeed because I knew the entire time I was reading the fact and truth behind Matilda Cook’s story and experience. Not only were the topics and time period of these two novels were the same, but they did also feature the same key players and details. This of course is fitting since one was nonfiction and the other properly researched historical fiction. I must say, however, that I felt that Murphy’s book copied the style of Fever 1793. For example, each chapter of Fever 1793 began with a quotation from a primary document, like letters, diaries, or other literary works. Murphy’s book introduced chapters in the same way. While I think that this style of introduction, as well as the quotes chosen enhanced both books, I find it interesting that Murphy chose to copy that style. I also liked seeing that Murphy referenced Anderson’s book in his research and as a recommended resource and that other readers paired these two materials together.

I love this type of historical fiction, and I swear that it is books like this that really encourage an interest in and absorption of history. The Surrender Tree: Poem’s of Cuba’s Struggle for Independence by Margarita Engle, for example, is told from the perspectives of multiple characters and allows Engle to share details and information about a period in Cuba’s history that many young adults know absolutely nothing about. Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, also written by Engle is another example of a personal story set in a real period, as is Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez. The formats some of these texts are written in is different (poetry and diary form), but they also serve to pique interest in history. I also always think of the movie The Patriot when I think of historical fiction, because I know some of the only things I remember from U.S. history I learned from that movie.