It's late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and...
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Dec 16, 2009
Julia
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This book suffers first from the author's choice to employ first-person narration, and secondly from her failure to develop any full characters, especially Matilda, the main. Matilda would probably have felt like a better character if we were not so close to her -- as such, she seems well...too ordinary. And I don't think she feels fourteen, not by a long shot. This is a "teen" book. And it felt like one. There is no real depth, no reason given for her liking Nathaniel other than
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Feb 23, 2008
Ana
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Fever
Laurie Anderson is the author of this wonderful book, witch has a outstanding content. The author uses a romantic technique of writing witch is bonded to the fearful story of the fever in 1793, an example of this romantic writing is the following "I threw my arms around Nathaniel and planted a big kiss on his cheek." (Anderson 232). The story begins in Philadelphia when we get introduced to a girl with such a life. The author gives us an excell More...
Laurie Anderson is the author of this wonderful book, witch has a outstanding content. The author uses a romantic technique of writing witch is bonded to the fearful story of the fever in 1793, an example of this romantic writing is the following "I threw my arms around Nathaniel and planted a big kiss on his cheek." (Anderson 232). The story begins in Philadelphia when we get introduced to a girl with such a life. The author gives us an excell More...
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Jan 17, 2009
Sarah
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Apr 25, 2008
Alfreda
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When I first found out that I had to read this book, I was not excited about it, because usually school books are boring and have no interest for me in it. When I first started to read this book I thought here we go again another boring book, why are doing this to me? I got more into the book as time went by, and wound up actually liking it. This book had become interesting and it was like no other book that I had read before, which was a good thing. In the ne
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Oct 21, 2007
Jeffrey
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Fever 1793 is one of the rare children's novels that I will recommend to adults to read.
As a middle school English teacher, reading children's and young adult fiction is part of the job. Often it is enjoyable, and often I am annoyed because I would rather be reading something else. Usually, after a spree of YA literature I must read Faulkner or a chapter from Ulysses to come out even. YA books are often formulaic. The formula includes a protagonist that is generally angst-ridden More...
As a middle school English teacher, reading children's and young adult fiction is part of the job. Often it is enjoyable, and often I am annoyed because I would rather be reading something else. Usually, after a spree of YA literature I must read Faulkner or a chapter from Ulysses to come out even. YA books are often formulaic. The formula includes a protagonist that is generally angst-ridden More...
Nov 28, 2007
Kewpie
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In 1793, Philadelphia had a malaria outbreak that killed a large portion of the population and almost wiped out the town. We follow Mattie Cook’s journey into adulthood, surviving the fever and witnessing the horrors of malaria. The book is very graphic and vivid describing people dying and feverish. Anderson spared no details. This book also has historic information lost from most school textbooks. We learn about the roles of free African Americans in the beginning of our country. Recomme
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Nov 17, 2008
Jamir2012
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Have you ever read a story and it was so good. So good you didn't want to put the book down. So good you read it from day to night. So good you read it almost four times. Well that was the case with the book "Fever 1793". This book has history, happiness, and heartache. this book is one to remember.
The story "Fever 1793" takes place in historic Philadelphia in the year 1793. The setting makes the story really stand out. By the story being in Philadelphia it really More...
The story "Fever 1793" takes place in historic Philadelphia in the year 1793. The setting makes the story really stand out. By the story being in Philadelphia it really More...
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Feb 26, 2011
Fever 1793 is based on the actual yellow fever epidemic that hit Philadelphia and wiped out some five thousand people. One of those people affected by the fever is Mattie Cook. Mattie’s mother and grandfather own a coffeehouse in Philadelphia and that is where Mattie spends most of her days.
She has plans of her own for the coffeehouse someday and often day dreams of what it would be like when she ran the establishment. Mattie’s day dreams are shattered when the epidemic hits.
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She has plans of her own for the coffeehouse someday and often day dreams of what it would be like when she ran the establishment. Mattie’s day dreams are shattered when the epidemic hits.
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Apr 25, 2008
Michell'e
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The fever of 1973 was the first high school book that was assigned for me to read over the summer. I would do what every other student does and trash the book or try to talk about all the good things that they liked in the book but shockingly I not only liked but enjoyed the book. I liked the plot of the book, I liked the main character Maddy and I also liked the the different places and views that the book took place in.
I said I liked the main character Maddy because of her building More...
I said I liked the main character Maddy because of her building More...
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Nov 26, 2008
Joe
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Anderson's _Fever_ is a painfully researched novelization of a young girl's experience in Philadelphia's 1793 yellow fever epidemic. The epidemic, which claimed the lives of perhaps a fifth of America's then capital, is barely remembered today, but surely must have seemed like a 9/11 magnitude catastrophe at the time.
Anderson's writing is convincing and flows effectively. I look forward to reading more of Anderson's American historical fiction.
Anderson's writing is convincing and flows effectively. I look forward to reading more of Anderson's American historical fiction.
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Jun 03, 2011
528_Mary F.
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The novel Fever is an appropriate book for middle school students about the Yellow Fever epidemic that took place in Philadelphia in the late 18th century.
Mattie Cook is a sixteen-year-old girl with a funny sense of humor. This story is very historically accurate. The disease devastates the area that was at one time very prosperous. In the end, George Washington returns to Philadelphia (the Capitol)to symbolize the end of the the fever. The people knew that if Washington came to More...
Mattie Cook is a sixteen-year-old girl with a funny sense of humor. This story is very historically accurate. The disease devastates the area that was at one time very prosperous. In the end, George Washington returns to Philadelphia (the Capitol)to symbolize the end of the the fever. The people knew that if Washington came to More...
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Mar 22, 2010
Tatiana
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There is nothing much I can say about this book except that it is just an OK read. I know Laurie Halse Anderson for her great contemporary YA novels - "Wintergirls," "Catalyst," "Twisted," and "Speak." "Fever 1793" is nothing like these fabulous books. This is Anderson's first historical fiction book which describes the worst epidemic of yellow fever in America. The story is definitely written for pre-teen children, not young adults. There is jus
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Aug 15, 2008
Laina
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FINALLY!!! A Laurie Halse Anderson book that was completely likeable with no reservations!!! I loved the research and thought that was put into the story. I loved the characters. In a way it was depressing, but all ended well. I learned quite a bit about the plague of 1793 in Philadelphia (how did I not know about this Mr. Smart???) and couldn't put it down. It was emotional, beautiful, and left something with me that I can't forget. The writing was so amazing that I felt like I should be
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Jan 03, 2012
Busy
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Matilda Cook, "Mattie", is just a normal teenage girl in 1793. Similar to teenage girls today, Mattie spends her time avoiding chores, disliking the boy her mother wants her to marry, and crushing on a boy no one approves of. Mattie spends the majority of her time working in her widowed mother's coffee shop and being teased by her grandfather. Mattie dreams of turning the small coffee shop into Philadelphia's finest establishment, but her dreams are put on hold when Yellow Fever breaks
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Feb 18, 2009
4Q 4P J
“Fever 1793” is historical fiction, set in the capital city of Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic. Matilda is fourteen years old and lives with her mother and grandfather. Her father had fallen from a ladder and died unexpectedly, leaving his widow to run their home and business, the coffeehouse. Matilda has dreams to restructure the coffeehouse into a prominent business, but the summer heat and mosquitoes soon make mere survival her primary concern. She is sent More...
“Fever 1793” is historical fiction, set in the capital city of Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic. Matilda is fourteen years old and lives with her mother and grandfather. Her father had fallen from a ladder and died unexpectedly, leaving his widow to run their home and business, the coffeehouse. Matilda has dreams to restructure the coffeehouse into a prominent business, but the summer heat and mosquitoes soon make mere survival her primary concern. She is sent More...
Feb 09, 2012
Reading Fever makes you ever so thankful for our modern medical knowledge! Written from the perspective of the sixteen year old main character, Mattie Cook, we are able to see for a moment her “normal” life working at the coffee house owned and run by her widowed mother and grandfather and their coffeehouse cook, free slave Eliza. While Philadelphia is a growing and prosperous port city in 1793, disaster quickly strikes in the form of yellow fever. Within four months, we see how the city, its in
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Feb 06, 2012
Ana
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August 1793 Mattie Cook a four-teen year old, a young lady who is ambitious and adventurous is stuck with her mother and is tired of listening to her mother. Mattie has her own plans for the coffee house; she plans on turning it into a fine, the finest business in Philadelphia the capital of the new United States. But there have been reports of a disease. "Fever" that threatens everything she holds dear. Cemeteries’ filling with fever victims Mattie grows with fear, tragedies strike pe
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Jan 29, 2012
Ellen
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Laurie Halse Anderson--required
This book has been sitting on my shelf for years now. Both my older daughters have read it and loved it. I don't know why I have resisted for so long. I guess I didn't trust Anderson to write a good historical fiction novel. I have always been so caught up in her amazing novel "Speak," and guess that I didn't want to see her as an author in any other genre. Ridiculous. But it was wonderful and I am a bit irritated at myself for not picking it up More...
This book has been sitting on my shelf for years now. Both my older daughters have read it and loved it. I don't know why I have resisted for so long. I guess I didn't trust Anderson to write a good historical fiction novel. I have always been so caught up in her amazing novel "Speak," and guess that I didn't want to see her as an author in any other genre. Ridiculous. But it was wonderful and I am a bit irritated at myself for not picking it up More...
Dec 04, 2011
Book Bunny
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From the Book Bunny's review site HoorayforYa.com
Sickness is something that we put out sort of out of sight out of mind in the modern United States. If you’re sick, you head to the doctor, they hand you a pill (they have one for everything) and in a couple of weeks you’re better. Or if you’ve developed something more serious (assuming you have decent health insurance), you’re whisked away to a hospital. You are cared for. Most people know nothing of an epidemic – where disease runs r More...
Sickness is something that we put out sort of out of sight out of mind in the modern United States. If you’re sick, you head to the doctor, they hand you a pill (they have one for everything) and in a couple of weeks you’re better. Or if you’ve developed something more serious (assuming you have decent health insurance), you’re whisked away to a hospital. You are cared for. Most people know nothing of an epidemic – where disease runs r More...
Nov 15, 2011
Katie
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. I feel like the author did a great job at keeping the reader in suspense. The yellow fever epidemic seemed so scary, and I was worried about the characters the whole way through. The main character Mattie Cook has to learn how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease. The author does a good job in incorporating insight from this deadly disease that killed nearly five thousand people. I really like how the story used real life recollections of the bitterness an
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Oct 15, 2011
Patrice
rated it: 
A historic young adult fiction novel with strong female characters, strong and positive depiction of people of color, and a small enough dose of love story to be un-gag worthy.
Fever 1793, is a winner winner chicken dinner.
I'm on a weekend bender of young adult fiction and have just made my way through three novels. Two of the three novels were so crap-tastic, I almost wanted to re-read Ulysses. I finished this book feeling like I'd actually learned something and hadn't w More...
Fever 1793, is a winner winner chicken dinner.
I'm on a weekend bender of young adult fiction and have just made my way through three novels. Two of the three novels were so crap-tastic, I almost wanted to re-read Ulysses. I finished this book feeling like I'd actually learned something and hadn't w More...
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Sep 27, 2011
Wing Kit
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The Fever of 1793 struck the people of Philadelphia. This epidemic forced Matilda Cook and her family to go through a lot of hardships. Her mother was the first person in her family to catch this deadly pestilence and this was the first thing that separated her from her family. Matilda and her grandfather had to get out of the town and go to a farm in a different place. Going there was also difficult since she was tossed out of a wagon because people suspected her grandfather of having the fever
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Aug 27, 2011
Adriana
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Jul 17, 2011
Michael
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Who knew the author of such acclaimed novels such as "speak" could be so fluent in History. This book was captivating. I read it hand in hand with "An American Epidemic." Which as well was based on the Yellow Fever spread in the Philadelphia, PA area. Yellow Fever killed approximately 5000 people, which then accounted for approximately 10% of Philadelphia's population. In the hot summer of 1793 mosquitoes were a huge issue, consequentially yellow fever spread like wildfire. S
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Mar 28, 2011
Kayna
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This is the story of Mattie Cook's survival during the Yellow Fever Epidemic that hit Philadelphia in 1793. In the course of three months over 5 thousand people died from the fever, 10% of Philadelphia's population. Mattie's father died years before due to a broken neck from falling off a ladder. Her mother, grandfather, and servant Eliza run a coffeehouse and have a very successful business. When one of the workers fails to show up for work on time Mattie's mother Lucille goes to investigate on
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Mar 28, 2011
Book Geek
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The book was a fantastic read. Mrs. Anderson takes the reader directly into Philadelphia after the Revolutionary War with skill, making us taste the Philly heat, and the buzzing flies. Mattie, the main character, starts off as a typical whining teenager on the edge of being a grown up. By the end of the book, Mattie has grown into a young woman who has seen the worst and best of humanity and come out without being bitter. Her experiences are heartfelt, and the author has done a great job of maki
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Mar 22, 2011
This was a book that caught me by surprise! Anderson has a unique style of writing that makes each chapter end with a cliffhanger! Something scary or exciting or unbelievable is happening and the reader is left to wonder what is going to happen next. Mattie, the main character, is a typical colonial girl who has lots of responsibilities in her family's coffee house. Her mother gives her little freedom and expects her to stay on top of her chores while her grandfather, an ex-soldier, indulges
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Feb 09, 2011
Shakiba
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"Mattie Cook, a teenage girl living in Philadelphia during the late 18th century, has many hopes and dreams. She has plans for the coffee house her poor family owns, and she plans for her future and family.
Just when everything seems perfect, her friend Polly Logan dies of an unknown cause. Polly is not the only one who has been dying a strange death. The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793 is breaking loose. When her mother becomes ill with the fever, Mattie must flee from Philadelphi More...
Just when everything seems perfect, her friend Polly Logan dies of an unknown cause. Polly is not the only one who has been dying a strange death. The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793 is breaking loose. When her mother becomes ill with the fever, Mattie must flee from Philadelphi More...
Feb 07, 2011
Krista
rated it:
Can I just say how much I wanna be Laurie Halse Anderson when I grow up? LOL I mean, the mastery that was Speak and Wintergirls is one thing....but then after reading Chains and Forge, I'm even more in awe of her writing range. I found myself immersed in Mattie's world, and I have a fever(bad pun) for more historical YA's, especially by the masterful LHA!
Fever 1793 is about Mathilda, or Mattie, growing up in Philadelphia. Mattie's mother and grandfather run a coffeehouse, which is qu More...
Fever 1793 is about Mathilda, or Mattie, growing up in Philadelphia. Mattie's mother and grandfather run a coffeehouse, which is qu More...
Jan 15, 2011
Stacy
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