Fever 1793

Fever 1793 by: Laurie Halse Anderson

Released: March 1,2002 by:Aladdin

Summary: During the summer of 1793,Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and father. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to make the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out.

Disease sweeps the streets,destroying everything in its path,and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence,Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere,and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.

Review: Fever 1793 was my first book by Laurie Halse Anderson and now I know that it certainly isn't my last.

Fever 1793 tells the story about Matilda "Mattie" Cook living in Philadelphia in 1793. Now if you know anything about history,you would know that Yellow Fever swept through Philly in 1793 killing tenth of its population. The books starts with Mattie's servant,Polly,dieing mysteriously. Soon rumors spread of a fever near where Polly lives,and soon Mattie's mother gets it. Her mother wants her out of the house so she wont catch it. So Mattie's other servant,Eliza,has Mattie and her grandfather in a wagon to Ludington.But they get kicked out when the people in the wagon think grandfather has the Fever. Stranded in the middle of nowhere Maddie must provide for both her and her Grandfather.

I'm not that big of a fan of historical fiction so I was a little hesitant to read this. But it turned out to be great! Mattie was a great character. She was easily likable and was a bit of a tomboy.

My only problem with this book was toward the middle it got slow. It was like OK, I know this is happening,can we PLEASE move along? But,the rest of the book was great.

Overall: Loved it. Can't wait to read Laurie's other books.

4 stars