“Thousands dead… No food… No hope… I passed people weeping in doorways and did not stop. I heard the death carts rattling in the street and did not look up.” Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson brings forth an engaging historical-fiction story. The book describes a not-so-well-known historical event - an outbreak of yellow fever in the nation’s capital, following fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook’s struggle to survive in panic-drenched, barren Philadelphia, which was once her bustling home. The realistic characters, engaging plot, and first-person view of the event held my interest throughout the book.
       

Despite the fact that the book is set over two hundred years ago, the author managed to give the characters verisimilitude. While telling the story of the fever, the author kept in mind personal aspects of Mattie’s life. When she was separated from her friends and family, for example, she continuously worried about her mother and the boy she liked, which most people would feel if they were in such a situation. This is in addition to Mattie’s worry for the city all together. “Yellow fever was wrestling the life out of Philadelphia, infecting the cobblestones, the trees, the nature of the people. Was I living through another nightmare?” Such completely understandable thoughts and feelings gave this character authenticity, allowing readers to relate to her.
       

The riveting plot held my interest. Describing the fever’s devastating effect on Philadelphia and, on a smaller scale, Mattie’s life, Laurie Halse Anderson grabbed my attention. When the plot seemed as if it would unfold into a relative solution, the next page reminded me that it was about a disease holding no prejudice. It caused me to question every turn of events - who will die? Who will live? What will happen next? Though the quotes at the beginning of every chapter foreshadowed it’s plot development, they did not give away neither content nor reduce suspense.
       

Another important aspect of the book was Laurie Halse Anderson’s engaging and - at times - humorous writing style. She gives readers a sense of the life her characters lived. She covers both more general, major aspects and specific, minor parts of that time’s average lifestyle. Readers learn that, in her long-ago world, adults were always respected, girls were taught manners and chores from the crib, and painters’ apprentices had no future. In the year of 1793, bargaining was an art, dresses were a painful experience, and growing taller meant hitting your head against the attic ceiling every morning. The author really delved into that time period, pulling her audience in to let them temporarily experience it.
       

Fever 1793 tells the story of not only survival, but also of hope. It brings to readers the struggles of being alone and helpless, the difficult journey from desperation to restoration, and the development of a strong, empathetic, and independent character. They will relate to Mattie’s inner struggles and successes, fears and hopes, dreams and realities. Though readers will hopefully never have to survive in a city turned desolate with fever and fear, they can certainly draw hope and inspiration from this book.