Monday, September 26, 2011

An American Plague

Author:  Jim Murphy
Title:  An American Plague:  The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic

Illustrator:  Maps: Kayley LeFaiver

Genre:  Non Fiction Chapter Book

Subgenre:  Informational/History
Theme:  To educate students about the epidemic in 1793.

Primary & Secondary Characters:  Matthew Clarkson, Charles Willson Peale, Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Benjamin Rush, Israel Israel, Stephen Girard, Reverend J Henry C. Helmuth, Dolley Madison, and William Cobbett.

Awards:  Newberry and Orbis Pictus

Date of Publication:  2003
Publishing Company:  Clarion Books

Brief Summary:  This book tell about the Yellow Fever Epidemic that centered in Philadelphia, PA.  It provides photos and newspaper articles of the time.  The people in the African Society were immune and helped nurse the ill and dying people who ever infected by mosquitoes.

Use in the Classroom:  This book is great for literature circles in grades 6-10.  Students can independently read and then discuss the information they are learning with their group.  This book would be appropriate to tie history and reading together.

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