This was a great book. Accurate historical fiction based on the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793....totally my idea of a perfect read.The story is conveyed through the eyes of Mattie, a 14 year old girl who lives in a coffeehouse run by her widowed mother and paternal grandfather. When the fever strikes, Mattie's mother becomes ill and sends Mattie away to the country to escape the threat. Only that doesn't quite go as planned and Mattie ends up contracting the fever. Although she recovers, Mattie returns home to find the her mother absent and the coffeehouse locked up tight. Did she make it? Or did her mother join the thousands taken away by the death carts for mass burial?While Mattie prays for her safety, she ends up helping others around the city who are stricken with the fever and takes in an orphan girl named Nell. Slowly, Mattie decides to reopen the coffeehouse and take control of her life in these uncertain times.This would be a great book to read for a school project...I read quite alot of it with my 8 year old son who was enthralled with it. I will definitely keep this one in mind for suggested future book reports!
