Hi! Welcome to the book club of Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. Laurie Halse Anderson was born on October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York and still lives in Northern New York. Her real name was Laurie Beth Halse. She had a gift of writing and was awful at math. She published Fever 1793 in the year 2000.
Look at the title and the front cover. Browse through the book but do NOT look at the summary on the back yet.
After you skim the book and the front cover, answer this question:
What do you think the book is going to be about?
Read pages 1-54. Then, go to the next post, part two.

Hello again! Were you right on your prediction? Do you like this book so far? The main character book is about a girl named Matilda Cook in Philadelphia in 1793. Her family works and owns in a coffeehouse. She lives with her mother and grandfather. Her father was a carpenter who died of a broken neck when she was very young. Matilda has a cat named Silas and a parrot named King George.

Matilda finally woke up in a hot, August day after her mother was yelling at her lots of times. The Cooks have a cook who is an African-American slave named Eliza. Polly Logan, the serving girl, later collapsed and died. Matilda helps her mom buy food at the market. She meets Nathaniel Benson, a painter who works for Mr. Peale. He teases her and then asks Matilda if she would go fishing with him. Matilda was embarressed to say yes so she made an excuse to go home. The family gets invited by the Ogilives for tea. Matilda doesn’t like going to the Ogilive’s because the girls there always teases at her and her mom hopes to find her a husband with one of their sons. Matilda’s family gets ready and went to the Ogilivie’s house . They had tea and later started to have an argument about the coffeehouse. Colette, the oldest of the Ogilive’s, collapsed because of the yellow fever.
Here is this post’s question
What do you think is causing and spreading the yellow fever. Before going to the next post, read pages 54-105. Enjoy!

Welcome back! Do you enjoy the book a lot? Out of 1 through 10, what would you rate it? Okay, let’s go back to the book.

Now, Matilda’s mom has yellow fever. She tells Matilda to leave Philadelphia with Grandfather so she won’t get the fever. Matilda and Grandfather left in a carriage with two farmers to another city. Matilda and Grandfather both got rejected by some guards and a doctor because Grandfather was sick and the farmers that they had picked them up on their way. Matilda took care of Grandfather while he rested. They ate off of berries and water. Matilda fainted and got yellow fever and Grandfather took her to Bush Hill.
1. How did Matilda change from the beginning to this point? 2. Read pages 105-150 and then go to the 4th post.

Hello everyone! Were you thrilled in this section? It was very sad and intense.

Matilda was fully recovered from the fever and was about to go to an orphanage. Grandfather refused to and they went back to Philadelphia. When they came inside the coffeehouse, it was robbed and most of the plants in the garden were dead. Matilda and Grandfather cleaned up most of the mess and tried to use things that were not broken. Matilda regrew the live plants and later had fruits and vegetables for them to eat. One night, two robbers came and were demanding for any valuable belongings. Grandfather tried to protect Matilda with a rifle. He shot but missed. One of the thieves ran off but the other one jumped on Grandfather and started punching and strangling him. Matilda stabbed the robber’s leg with Grandfather’s sword on a table and he fled. Grandfather said his last words to Matilda and then died.
1. Matilda was always cared for by an adult. Now Grandfather died leaving her all alone. Do you think Matilda will survive on her own for once? Why or why not? 2. After you predict, read pages 150-200.

Hi again! Welcome to the 5th post of the Fever 1793 book club. Matilda said a prayer before Grandfather was buried because the minister wasn’t there. As she was walking on the streets, she found this orphan named, Nell, whose mother had died. Matilda then found Eliza, the coffeehouse cook, and later lived with her, her brother Joseph, his two sons, and Mother Smith. Matilda was going to put Nell into an orphan house but there were too many people so she let her stay with her. Nell and the twins got the yellow fever. 1. The question of this post is this: Do you think Matilda is mature enough to take care of Nell? Explain. 2. Read pages 200-243.

Hello! Can you believe the book is over? Matilda and Eliza took Nell and the twins to the coffeehouse where it was cooler and kept them cool with water. As Matilda was getting water from a well, she fainted. When she woke up, she saw frost everywhere and she knew the fever ended. They took everything outside to destroy the fever. The farmers and people all started to come back to. Philadelphia. Matilda went to the market for food and met Nathaniel Benson. Mattie decided to reopen the coffeehouse with Eliza as her partner. Her mother came back very sick from Mrs. Ludington. She then ran the Cook Coffeehouse after she got better. Here is the last question of this book club What do you think the author’s message is? Explain. Also, if the Yellow Fever happened again today in Philadelphia, what would’ve changed? How would the people react and get rid of it? I hope you guys enjoyed the book club!