Final Thoughts and Reactions

After having completed the novel I believe that it is a very informative and well-written book that everyone should have the opportunity to read. However, I believe that the ending was very predictable. I was hoping that the novel would end well, but I was also hoping that there would be a twist. 

To summarize the ending the frost had come and the fever was almost entirely gone. Although grandfather had died, Matilda, Eliza, Nell, Nathaniel and many other characters were still alive and working to recover from the hardships. Mattie chose to reopen the coffehouse with Eliza and Nathaniel also aided them in regaining their business. Mattie contuniously tried to listen for news of her mother who had gone away to the country, but after many days of no sign she had figured that she had died from the fever. However, after everything seems to become normal again, Mattie's mother arrives, sick and pale, in a carriage back to home. In the end, Mattie has almost taken her mother's place. She is the one who gets up the earliest, watches the little kids, cooks, and cleans. The ending can simply be summed up by saying that Laurie Halse Anderson points out the various way in which Mattie has grown after going through a truly strength testing experience like the yellow fever. 

Although I felt as if we all knew that Mattie's mother would return based on how the book was heading, it was none the less very entertaining to read. I thought it was interesting how the author used a full-circle ending in the novel, however she started the book with the mother getting up early and being in charge of everything and ended with Matilda being the one to get up early and run the coffeehouse. I found this to be a very creative and effective way of writing that helped to point out the obvious change and transformation that the main character had underwent during the entire experience. 

Scrapblog and Reactions

I am still very delighted with the novel. It is beginning to get a bit repetitive though because every time the reader learns about a minor character, that character become sick with the yellow fever. That part of the novel is very predictable. However, the major plot of the story has been very intriguing and there have been many twists in the novel that I wasn't expecting. I was not expecting Mattie to also get the fever. Once she did I thought for sure that she was going to have a hard time making it through, but she made a quick recovery. So far I am still very happy with the book that I have chosen. 

Below is my scrapblog which explains some moments that I thought were important to the novel, yet I have not mentioned yet. One of the major suprises in the novel was the death of Mattie's grandfather after the thieves had broken into their coffeehouse. This is supposed to be Mattie's scrapbook and in it she expresses how much she misses her grandfather and how much she longs to be back with her mother. She also expresses her affection for the painter's apprentice, Nathaniel Benson, and how she longs to be with him again. If Mattie had, had the option I believe this is what she would have put in her scrapbook if she had kept one. 

Reaction and Links

So far, I am still very pleased with the novel. The plot is turning out to be suspensful and full of action. I was very delighted at how much I wanted to continue reading the book. There is a nice chapter layout in the novel layout that leaves very captivating cliff hangers at the end of each chapter. I was suprised at the death of Mattie's grandfather because it was very sudden and unexpected. However, I do feel like it added an interesting twist to the story although the even itself was upsetting.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/yellowfever.htm

This is a link to a history site that tells all about what life in Philadelphia during 1793 was like. The city was known as having yellow fever during this period of time. The yellow fever was not a small ovurrenc that only half the city experienced, it was an epidemic. This site gave me a good idea of what was really occuring with the Yellow Fever beyond what I am being told by Mattie (the narrator). Mattie states that all of the doctors were unaware and all had different opinions about the Yellow Fever because none had the correct technology to realize that the fever was a result of mosquitos. I also found it interesting after reading in the book that the doctor had bled Mattie's mother to cure her that in fact these doctors were only doing this because they did not know what to really do. The doctors had resorted to extreme measures to make it seem like they knew how to cure the fever, when in fact they did not. There were many interesting things in this site but those were the few that I found most interesting.

This video is simply a video that a few kids had made on the novel if it were to have a movie trailor. I thought that it was actually quite true to the story and did give me a good picture of what was happening through the story. You can see Mattie as she finds a girl named Nell on the streets who have lost her parents. You can also see the scene where some robbers broke into Mattie's house and ended up killing her grandfather. These main events were shown in the video along with others that I have yet to reach in the novel.

Introduction to Novel

Introduction to Main Characters:

Matilda (Mattie) Cook- a 16-year-old girl who is tired of being yelled at constantly by her mother and would rather just walk around with Nathaniel Benson

 

Mother-used to be kind and gentle until the passing of her husband, she has become constantly cross and scolds Mattie often.

Eliza- the kind and hard-working cook/servant of the Cook household who cares deeply for the family and is a great friend to Mattie.

Grandfather-a veteran of the war who has helped the Cook family through all of their troubles, a strong man very fond of his granddaughter, Mattie. 

Nathaniel Benson- a young boy who is Mattie's age, a painter's assistant who is forced to work just as hard as Mattie.

It is the summer of 1793 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mattie Cook, a 16-year-old girl, lives with her grandfather, her mother, and their cook, Eliza, in a small room above their coffehouse which her father had started before he passed away. Matilda is forced to work hard in the coffeehouse like an adult, yet has time to be a teenager when it comes to walking around the streets with Nathaniel Benson, a painter's assistant.  However, when the Yellow Fever strikes the city of Philadelphia, a state a chaos occurs. Mattie's childhood friend, Polly, falls ill and soon is taken by the Fever. The church bells are ringing by the hour with the age of the people that have died from the Fever. Now Mattie must find a way to continue running the coffehouse, pleasing her mother, and staying away from the dreaded Yellow Fever. 

I was very surprised at just how much I am enjoying the book so far. The plot is very interesting and has kept my attention so far. I really like the fact that the book is not simply about how horrible the fever was in Philadelphia. I like that the novel revolves around one girl's life and it shows her personal struggles not just with the Yellow Fever, but also with other daily life issues. I was also afraid that the book was going to overexaggerate or go into deep detail about all of the fever symptons, however it has yet to say anything that I would find slightly disgusting which I was very pleased with. So far I am finding the book to be very intriguing and fascinating. I hope that it continues to be this way as I read deeper into the plot. 

Based on what I have read so far I have made a few predictions. I believe that Mattie is going to be forced to go live somewhere else by her mother and Eliza and her grandfather. They all seem very worried about her health from the start so I believe that they are going to be concerned about her catching the Yellow Fever. I think that the novel may possibly progress with her living in another area and writing to her family and getting news on the Yellow Fever through those means. I thought that was a possiblilty for the plot and I also thought that another possibility is that Mattie will resist living somwhere else. It mentioned how stubborn she is in the beginning of the book so I believe that she may resist moving somewhere else and continue trying to push through the Yellow Fever in Philadelphia. I think that one of these possibilities will occur.