Fever 1793 is based on an actual epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia that wiped out 5,000 people in three months. Philadelphia was the capital of the United States, with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in residence at this time.

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Cook has a widowed mother and a grandfather who own a popular coffee shop on High Street. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out. Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather, but she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.

Lexile Measure: 580L

Historical fiction. Author: Laurie Halse Anderson. Paperback, 251 pages, 5 x 7 inches.