Alexandria LaFaye, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
The best historical fiction is the kind that immerses you in the time period through the mindset of a primary character. Anderson's Mattie Cook does just that. In this diary based novel, we entire the harrowing experience of a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. Mattie dreams of turning the family coffeehouse into a booming business and struggles to cope with her strict mother. But those issues are pushed aside when yellow fever strikes. Then Mattie has to fight for her life and the lives of her family. The city is turned upside down. Mattie struggles through it all. Readers will applaud her heroism and learn a lot about post-Revolutionary War Philadelphia in the process. 2000, Simon and Schuster, $16.00. Ages 10 up.

Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature)
The author of Speak goes back in time to create another strong heroine. Fourteen-year-old Matilda Cook reluctantly helps out at her mother's Philadelphia coffee house, and so is conveniently in place to catch the gossip and follow the unfolding of events during the city's plague of yellow fever in the summer and autumn of 1793. When her mother is stricken, and Mattie is sent to the country for her health, her story turns into one of survival and growth as she overcomes the terrible scourge herself, then must search for other survivors, battle both terrified neighbors and looters, and attempt to restore her family and fortunes. It's a handful for one young girl, but Anderson makes Mattie's story believable--and in the process builds a picture of Philadelphia in the days when it was the nation's largest city and capital. A useful appendix confirms the historical facts and adds verisimilitude to Anderson's fictional depiction of period medical procedures. 2000, Simon & Schuster, $16.00. Ages 10 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2000 (Vol. 68, No. 12))
In an intense, well-researched tale that will resonate particularly with readers in parts of the country where the West Nile virus and other insect-borne diseases are active, Anderson ("Speak", 1999, etc.) takes a Philadelphia teenager through one of the most devastating outbreaks of yellow fever in our country's history. It's 1793, and though business has never been better at the coffeehouse run by Matilda's widowed, strong-minded mother in what is then the national capital, vague rumors of disease come home to roost when the serving girl dies without warning one August night. Soon church bells are ringing ceaselessly for the dead as panicked residents, amid unrelenting heat and clouds of insects, huddle in their houses, stream out of town, or desperately submit to the conflicting dictates of doctors. Matilda and her mother both collapse, and in the ensuing confusion, they lose track of each other. Witnessing people behaving well and badly, Matilda first recovers slowly in a makeshift hospital, then joins the coffeehouse's cook, Emma, a free African-American, in tending to the poor and nursing three small, stricken children. When at long last the October frosts signal the epidemic's end, Emma and Matilda reopen the coffeehouse as partners, and Matilda's mother turns up-alive, but a trembling shadow of her former self. Like Paul Fleischman's "Path of the Pale Horse "(1983), which has the same setting, or Anna Myers's "Graveyard Girl "(1995), about a similar epidemic nearly a century later, readers will find this a gripping picture of disease's devastating effect on people, and on the social fabric itself. 2000, Simon & Schuster, $16.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 11 to 13. © 2000 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paula Rohrlick (KLIATT Review, July 2000 (Vol. 34, No. 4))
At the beginning of August 1793, Philadelphia was the largest city in the U.S., with 40,000 residents. Up on High Street, fourteen-year-old Mattie helps her mother and her grandfather run her family's coffeehouse, along with a freed slave named Eliza. Then the dreaded yellow fever strikes. Mattie's mother sends her off to the countryside, hoping she will escape the pestilence, but Mattie comes down with the fever anyway. She recovers in a Philadelphia hospital, and she and her grandfather return to their home, only to find it looted and Mattie's mother gone. Robbers break in, and Mattie and her grandfather fight them off, but Mattie's grandfather dies. Bereft, Mattie wanders through the dangerous, empty city; by the end of September, more than half the population has fled, and over 3,000 are dead. There is no food to be had, and thieves haunt the streets. Mattie finds a tiny girl named Nell whose mother has died, and by happy chance she is reunited with Eliza, who has been working with the Free African Society tending the ill, regardless of race. When Eliza's little nephews come down with yellow fever, Mattie moves them all back into the coffeehouse, and starts to operate it again in partnership with Eliza and with the help of Mattie's beau, Nathaniel. And, movingly, in November Mattie's mother returns at last. Mattie's coming-of-age tale, set against the backdrop of Philadelphia's terrible epidemic, succeeds in conveying both her strong-willed spirit and the difficulties of life in that era, when daily work was ceaseless and backbreaking. Mattie changes convincingly from a resentful teenager to a responsible adult over the course of a few months, as the dreadful events around her force her to grow up. Anderson, the author of the acclaimed YA novel Speak, presents an interesting and little-known episode in history here, and readers will enjoy getting to know her feisty female protagonists. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2000, Simon & Schuster, 256p, $16.00. Ages 13 to 18.

Jerry Weiss (Parent's Guide, Fall 2000 (Vol. 3, No. 1))
Fourteen-year-old Mattie, daughter of a coffee house owner, is sent away from the city when yellow fever sweeps through Philadelphia, bringing illness and death to many. These are graphically described by the author. Though Mattie becomes very ill, she recovers and returns to search for her mother. She finds Eliza, the long-time friend and loyal slave. Eliza introduces Mattie to the Free African Society and helps her reopen the coffee house. What influence do Eliza and Mrs. Smith have on Mattie? What happens to the young Nell? Is Mattie's mother dead? How does Nathan become involved? A grim tale of life and death with some uplifting wonders. 2000, Simon & Schuster, $17.00. Ages 10 up.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2000 (Vol. 54, No. 2))
As yellow fever invades the young nation’s capital at Philadelphia, Mattie Cook and her family soon discover that their coffeehouse’s distance from the city dock is no protection from the disease. Widow Cook is stricken, and although Mattie and her grandfather try their best to nurse her, they realize it is best to leave her to the dubious care of the doctor and make their way to the healthful countryside. They never reach safety, though; Mattie falls to the fever along the way, and after the girl recovers in a makeshift hospital (well-administered by French doctors who understand the disease better than the famed Dr. Rush and his colleagues), they return home to find the premises deserted and the city in chaos. Determined not only to survive but also to rebuild the family business, Mattie faces food shortages, looters, the death of her beloved grandfather, and anxiety over her mother’s fate. Readers may detect a trace of glibness, resonant of an era closer to their own, in narrator Mattie’s voice, but they will likely forgive and forget this small gaffe as they follow the teenager’s travails in a devastated city. Those who have worked their way through Ann Rinaldi’s offerings will welcome Anderson’s take on a gripping episode of American history. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2000, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2000, Simon, 252p, $16.00. Grades 5-8.

Louise Foerster (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 2))
Told in diary (or journal) form from the viewpoint of sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, FEVER, 1793 gives the tragic details of the terrible yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. Within three months, some 5,000 people die in Philadelphia. The cause of the fever is unknown at that time. Based on careful research, the facts in this story are true, and the plot is exciting and suspenseful. Grades 5-9. 2000, Simon & Schuster, 251p, $16.00. Ages 10 to 15.

Dr. Stefani Koorey (VOYA, December 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 5))
Set in Philadelphia, the nation's capital at the end of the eighteenth century, this engrossing and well-written story chronicles one young girl's experiences during the yellow fever outbreak. Fourteen-year-old Matilda Cooke works for her widowed mother in their family's coffee shop. She faces a great struggle when it becomes clear that the city is in the midst of an epidemic from which no one is invulnerable. When her mother becomes gravely ill, she forces Matty to leave the city with her grandfather to escape the risk of infection. Matty eventually contracts the illness but recovers and returns to Philadelphia in search of her mother and her former existence. Fever 1793 is a vivid work, rich with well-drawn and believable characters. Unexpected events pepper the top-flight novel that combines accurate historical detail with a spellbinding story line. Of note to history teachers, the text includes an appendix that offers additional information on both the medical and burial practices of the period as well as several events and organizations depicted in the book. Matty is a strong female protagonist faced with horrific circumstances beyond her control, and her story will appeal to both genders in grades six through twelve. The book's first-person account of the epidemic's personal side is highly recommended for all public and school libraries. Booktalk this important work, and libraries will not be able to keep copies on the shelves. Appendix. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2000, Simon & Schuster, 256p, $16. Ages 11 to 18.