1 of 3 copies available
But the waterfront is abuzz with reports of disease. “Fever” spreads from the docks and creeps toward Mattie’s home, threatening everything she holds dear.
As the cemeteries fill with fever victims, fear turns to panic, and thousands flee the city. Then tragedy strikes the coffeehouse, and Mattie is trapped in a living nightmare. Suddenly her struggle to build a better life must give way to something even more important—the fight to stay alive.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Awards
-
Release date
April 24, 2007 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780739356098
- File size: 166344 KB
- Duration: 05:46:32
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Levels
- ATOS Level: 4.4
- Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
- Text Difficulty: 7-12
-
Reviews
-
Few today can appreciate the devastation of a flu epidemic that touches everyone, both directly or indirectly. Emily Bergl narrates this historical novel set in the late eighteenth century with enthusiasm. She assumes the persona of 14-year-old Mattie, who faces challenges with an indomitable spirit. Bergl sets a reasonable pace and avoids sounding maudlin even when a seemingly endless series of misfortunes occurs. She maintains a light touch and brings out the optimism and cheeriness of Mattie, as well as the resigned perseverance of many of the important people in her life. While interesting to children of many ages, this could also make history come alive for kids studying the post-Revolutionary War period. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine -
March 4, 2002
PW
called this ambitious novel about the yellow fever epidemic that ravaged 18th-century Philadelphia "extremely well researched. However, larger scale views take precedence over the kind of intimate scenes that Anderson crafted so masterfully in Speak." Ages 10-up. -
Narrator Bailey Carr gives a contemporary edge to 14-year-old Mattie in this new production of a stellar historical novel. Mattie's story starts out in familiar territory as she navigates chores, parental expectations, dreams of the future, and growing interest in boys. Carr mines Anderson's talent for going deep into the hearts and minds of teens, giving Mattie a touch of defiant sass and dreamy hope. It's almost a jolt to hear the post-Revolutionary War diction in the dialogue, complete with accents and airs communicating the ethnic and social diversity of Philadelphia in 1793. When Mattie is plunged into the horror of the most severe yellow fever epidemic in U.S. history, Carr's gentle voice guides listeners through what seems like an apocalypse. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
-
September 4, 2000
The opening scene of Anderson's ambitious novel about the yellow fever epidemic that ravaged Philadelphia in the late 18th century shows a hint of the gallows humor and insight of her previous novel, Speak. Sixteen-year-old Matilda "Mattie" Cook awakens in the sweltering summer heat on August 16th, 1793, to her mother's command to rouse and with a mosquito buzzing in her ear. She shoos her cat from her mother's favorite quilt and thinks to herself, "I had just saved her precious quilt from disaster, but would she appreciate it? Of course not." Mattie's wit again shines through several chapters later during a visit to her wealthy neighbors' house, the Ogilvies. Having refused to let their serving girl, Eliza, coif her for the occasion, Mattie regrets it as soon as she lays eyes on the Ogilvie sisters, who wear matching bombazine gowns, curly hair piled high on their heads ("I should have let Eliza curl my hair. Dash it all"). But thereafter, Mattie's character development, as well as those of her grandfather and widowed mother, takes a back seat to the historical details of Philadelphia and environs. Extremely well researched, Anderson's novel paints a vivid picture of the seedy waterfront, the devastation the disease wreaks on a once thriving city, and the bitterness of neighbor toward neighbor as those suspected of infection are physically cast aside. However, these larger scale views take precedence over the kind of intimate scenes that Anderson crafted so masterfully in Speak. Scenes of historical significance, such as George Washington returning to Philadelphia, then the nation's capital, to signify the end of the epidemic are delivered with more impact than scenes of great personal significance to Mattie. Ages 10-14.
-