Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever 1793. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Print.
Annotation: Fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook needs a change, but life as she knows it is about to be altered beyond anything she could ever imagine. When the devastating yellow fever epidemic of 1793 hits Philadelphia, Mattie's world is challenged and changed in ways that test her strength and perseverance and ultimately her survival.
Justification for Nomination: Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever 1793 is truly a historical fiction novel worthy of nomination for an award for literary excellence. Her research into the historical account of the yellow fever epidemic, the diverse society and cultures, and the surroundings of 1793, which she summarizes and includes in an appendix, is apparent in her ability to weave a story in which she brings Matilda Cook and her world to life. The reader is transported through time to Mattie's family-owned coffeehouse and the city where the aggravations of a fourteen-year-old girl rapidly pale in light of the devastation brought on by the yellow fever epidemic. Although many (hopefully, most) readers have not experienced tradegy and loss of this magnitude, they share the fears and emotions of Mattie and those affected. The stirrings of young love, ambition, friendship, happiness, and love of family as well as hunger, loneliness, grief, loss and death are all intrinsic parts of the human existence with which readers are familiar. Likewise, they adopt Mattie's inner drive to survive and find themselves pressing forward, eager for and anticipating a restored Philadelphia and happiness for their friend, Mattie, and her family and friends. Anderson’s ability to write with empathy and to evoke the same in her readers as Mattie rebuilds her life brings hope and the recognition of possibilities to all. Fever 1793 is indeed a young adult novel worthy of recognition and award.
Genre: Historical Fiction, Coming of Age
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