Mattie Cook is a teenager in Philadelphia when yellow fever strikes the city. Her mom forces Mattie to leave the family coffee shop and head to the countryside with her grandfather to try and save her from getting sick. Mattie is sad to leave her mom and the coffee shop, which she has dreams for when she could possibly run it herself. Unfortunately Mattie still gets sick, but manages to pull through and survive.
The two return to the city and find it completely changed. None of the markets are opened, people are scared to leave their homes, and robbers roam the city looking to make money off the tragedy.
This book is for young adults and reads as such. I enjoyed the character Mattie. She was probably a bit more level headed than I would expect a 14 year old to be in these circumstances. The only thing that I felt was missing was that this didn't feel like it was 1793. It felt like the story could have been told in 2016 and nothing in the book would need to change. Maybe this is the point, to show people this could happen today, but I would have liked a bit more of a historical setting.
First Line: "I woke to the sound of a mosquito whining in my left ear and my mother screeching in the right."
Rating:
(3.5/5)
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