Mattie Cook, 14, is not exactly eager to help her widowed mother in the family coffee shop. It's much too hot and she would rather be chatting with Nathaniel Benson, the painter's assistant who works nearby. But Mattie's life changes dramatically when Yellow Fever strikes Philadelphia in 1793, killing their serving girl Polly, and thousands of others. The illness devastates the city and social order breaks down. In Mattie's fight for survival, she is transformed into a young woman who is compassionate, hard-working, capable and determined.

This is an excellent novel for middle school students studying early America. Mattie is a strong, well-developed character who will be admired by boys as well as girls. The plot is gripping, the historical information vivid and the writing style exceptional. ( )

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever 1793. 2000. Aladdin Paperbacks: New York.
Genre: Historical fiction, drama
Themes: Death, courage and bravery, Yellow Fever in history, historical Philadelphia
Age / Grade Appropriateness: 10 and up
Awards: ALA Best Book For Young Adults, A Junior Library Guild Selection, New York Public Library’s 100 Books For Reading and Sharing, New York Public Library’s Best Book For The Teen Age, An IRA Teacher’s Choice, and An ABA Pick of The Lists.
Censorship Issues: If you were being extremely picky, death and dying.
Plot Summary: Mattie Cook is a fourteen year old girl who lives with her widowed mother and grandfather above the family coffee shop. She spends her days trying to get out of work and thinking about Nathaniel Benson, the painter’s assistant. The summer of 1793 brings with it, unrelenting heat and mosquitoes and unknown to the people of Philadelphia, the Yellow Fever. Polly, their serving girl, is the first victim of the fever that Mattie knows personally. The fever quickly spreads causing panic through out the city. Once Mattie’s mother becomes ill, she insists that Mattie and her grandfather leave town and flee to the country. They are able to hire a wagon going to the country, but are thrown off when Mattie’s grandfather’s cough is mistaken for the fever. Mattie herself becomes ill and is taken to Bush Hill, a fever hospital, to receive treatment. She recovers and along with her grandfather returns to the coffeehouse, which has been ransacked and discovers her mother is missing. Robbers break in and Mattie’s grandfather is attacked and dies. Mattie is now alone and realizes that she must be self-reliant and make it on her own. She finds Nell, a little girl who has lost her mother to the fever and runs into Eliza, the coffeehouse cook. Mattie goes with Eliza and helps out fever victims until the children get sick, then they bring them back to the coffeehouse where it is cooler and away from the docks. As soon as the frost comes, the fever abates, and Mattie and Eliza reopen the coffeehouse, where Mrs. Cook rejoins them.
Critique: Even though Fever 1793 is set back in history, today’s youth can still relate to fear of disease, like the Swine Flu. Mattie has to grow up quickly when she finds herself alone at a time when nobody is willing to help his or her neighbor because of the fear and panic caused by the fever. This book is well written and gives a very descriptive and accurate picture of the panic caused by the Yellow fever in Philadelphia during the summer of 1793. The story moves quickly and never bogs down with details. The ending might be a little unrealistic, Mattie and Eliza bring the coffeehouse up and running almost immediately after the frost kills off the fever.
Curriculum Uses: This book has many uses in the classroom. You could compare Matttie’ s life to the life of today’s fourteen-year-old, compare Philadelphia of 1793 to Philadelphia of today. Discuss how doctors treated the fever patients in 1793 and what they know differently today. Find the old fashioned words that are used and write what they mean. Pretend to be Mattie and keep write a diary of your days from the time the fever starts until the end.

A teenage girl named Mattie worked in a coffee house that her mother owned in Philadelphia in 1793. Yellow Fever strikes the town killing thousands of people and making others flee for the country side. Mattie is sent to the country with her grandfather but does not make it to her destination. In the process she contracts Yellow Fever. Luckily she overcomes her fever in a hospital nearby ran by a French doctor. She returns home to find the town nearly deserted, her mother missing, and her house robbed. Her grandfather dies of a heart condition and she is left all alone. She stumbles upon a family friend who takes her in. She helps take care of fever victims until the frost comes which puts an end to the Yellow Fever.

I really enjoyed the story. It was quite sad and disturbing. It told the story about the horrible Yellow Fever through the eyes of a young girl who is in the middle of it all. It lets her describe the horror and devastation of the Yellow Fever in Philadelphia. The story gives vivid details of how the sickness effected people. It told about the symptoms of Yellow Fever, the doctors beliefs in curing the Yellow Fever, and of the sadness of loss from the families of Yellow Fever victims. At the end of the book, the author has an appendix that gives factual, researched details about the doctors, Yellow Fever, famous people it effected, and a lot more. The author also has a page where she gives acknowledgments to people and places that helped her with the research to write the book, like historical societies, museums, physicians, and more.

This would be a good book to read to a fifth grade social studies class since they learn about the United States. This book could give the class valuable insight into one of the nations biggest cities, Philadelphia, and the terrible epidemic that plagued it during President George Washington's time. The class could discuss questions that are at the end of the book. The students could also do internet research about the present day Yellow Fever and write a short paragraph describing it. That would help relate past events to present day events. ( )

The summer of 1793 in Philadelphia is humid and stifling, and Mattie’s about had it up to here with being worked like a horse by her mother in their coffeehouse. However, tragedy strikes Philadelphia in the form of yellow fever. Soon, thousands in the city are dead, and important resources like food are running low. Then, fever strikes their own coffeehouse, and it’s up to Mattie to brave the unfamiliar terrors and pull their family and their business through.

FEVER 1793 satisfies the desire for strong female protagonists in historical fiction, and establishes Laurie Halse Anderson as a supremely multitalented author. Mattie experiences problems that modern girls can relate to: the desire to escape the drudgery of being worked by her mom in the coffeehouse, financial independence. Many people swear by this book, but I think I might have read it a bit too late, for I felt the plot was a little choppy—what I believed would’ve been the climax happened early on in the book, and I spent the last two-thirds floundering and trying to get back on track. Nevertheless, the characters are well-developed, and there is enough excitement that this should appeal to young girls. ( )

Mattie Cook is a sixteen year old girl who suddenly finds herself in the midst of a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. As everyone around her becomes deathly ill, Mattie struggles, not only to survive, but also to care for her family. The dangers of the epidemic force Mattie to change from a spoiled and pampered child to a strong and confident young woman.

Excellent, well-researched historical fiction for young adults. ( )