Parents' Guide to Fever 1793

FEVER 1793 begins with the buzzing of a mosquito. It's August 16, 1793, and the deadly mosquito-borne yellow fever has come to Philadelphia for the first time in 30 years. Fourteen-year-old Maddie Cook lives above Cook's Coffeehouse with her widowed mother and formidable grandfather, Captain William Farnsworth Cook, who served under George Washington during the Revolution. It's a respectable business for a widow, and her mother runs the coffeehouse alongside Eliza, a free Black woman who is a gifted cook. As word of the increasing number of deaths spreads throughout the city, there's talk of sending Maddie to live with friends in the country—something she has no intention of doing. But at the beginning of September, her mother falls ill and the decision is made for Maddie and her grandfather to leave. But they only get 10 miles from Philadelphia before they're turned back by armed men. Maddie falls ill but is one of the fortunate fever victims to survive. When she and her grandfather are able to return to the coffeehouse, they find that Maddie's mother has disappeared, and no one knows if she's alive or dead. After a chance meeting with Eliza, Maddie joins her and members of the Free African Society in caring for the sick and dying. October brings a frost that will kill the virus, as well as big changes for Maddie, Eliza, and Cook's Coffeehouse.