Fever 1793, By Laurie Halse Anderson

Cece Baumann
3/12/15

Fever 1793

"Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Matilda Cook. Matilda lives with her mother, grandfather, their cat Siles and her grandfathers bird King George. They all live in their coffee house in Philadelphia. They have a cook named Eliza who is a free black woman. They also have a server girl named Polly. One day Polly didn’t show up to work and Matilda's mom went to find out why she didn't show up. When her mom came back she told Matilda that Polly had died. Many people were saying that she died from yellow fever and that it was starting to spread around. This would be the start of many tragedies caused by yellow fever. The most important moment in the book is when Matilda and her grandfather

In the beginning they find out that Polly has died from yellow fever. This was the first time that they found out that yellow fever was spreading around the town. “She shook with the fever briefly, three quarters of an hour, cried out once, and then died in her own bed.” (pg.24) In the beginning you also see the struggle between Matilda and her mom. They go through all the fights that any parent and child go through. “I seemed even smaller with mother storming around.” (pg 6) Matilda and her mom argued a lot but they still loved each other. This started to build up when Matilda’s mom got sick. Matilda’s mom was very cautious about yellow fever, she never wanted Matilda to leave the house because her mom was afraid that she might get sick. “Off with you now and take your cargo...The man turned back and looked at the wheelbarrow and dumped the woman on the street. “Mother!” I screamed” (pg 89-90) Matilda is getting so much bad news and its just going to continue to come. These reasons show why Matilda and her grandfather coming back to the coffee shop is the most important