AN AMERICAN PLAGUE by Jim Murphy

Bibliography
Murphy, Jim. 2003. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. New York: Clarion Books.


Summary
This book tells the story of the yellow fever epidemic that happened in Philadelphia in 1793. The book talks about how the fever quietly snuck up on the city. It talks about how the people were effected when they realized that it was an epidemic. A lot of people fled the city which caused major problems because shops were not open and there was no one to care for the sick. The book also showed us some of the medical practices from that time period. When everyone left there were two men that stayed behind to help organize and care for the sick people. The African American women ended up being nurses and caring for the sick. They even had instances of a type of price gauging but from the sick people wanting to hire the nurses.


Analysis
This book had a lot of historic facts and information. While being a nonfiction book it still told the story of what happened in Philadelphia in 1973. The author did a good job of taking us through the entire journey, from the beginning when "No One Noticed" through the epidemic and then when it had passed. The pictures in the book help to take you back to that time period. The author puts lots of quotes and artifacts that come straight from the people in the book. One example is the poem "Pestilence" by Philip Freneau. He also did this by including parts of newspaper articles.


Review Excerpts

School Library Journal review - "The author masterfully weaves facts and fascinating stories in describing the course of the disease and the heroic roles played by a few doctors and the free African-American citizens of the city."


Horn Book Magazine review - "With his customary care, Murphy culls from a number of historical records the story of the yellow fever epidemic that swept Philadelphia in 1793, skillfully drawing out from these sources the fear and drama of the time and making them immediate to modern readers."

Connections
This book would be great to use in social studies. Although with younger students I would need to just take excerpts from the book to use in a lesson. It is a lot of information to take in and my students would get bored if they had listen to or read the book on their own. I think it is a great source of historic information though.