Fever 1793: Chapters 1–6

by Laurie Halse Anderson
Mattie Cook's simple life in Philadelphia is shattered when an epidemic of yellow fever rages through the city in the summer of 1793. Attempting to flee with her grandfather, Mattie finds that escaping disaster won't be so simple.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–13, Chapters 14–19, Chapters 20–24, Chapter 25–Epilogue

Here are links to our lists for other works by Laurie Halse Anderson: Speak, Speak: The Graphic Novel, Chains, Shout
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abhor
    feel hatred or disgust toward
    Mother abhorred mice.
  2. teem
    be full of or abuzz with
    Below the window, High Street teemed with horsemen, carriages, and carts.
  3. victuals
    a source of food or nourishment
    If not for Eliza’s fine victuals, and the hungry customers who paid to eat them, we’d have been in the streets long ago.
  4. disreputable
    lacking respectability in character, behavior or appearance
    I tied a disreputable straw hat atop the cap, one I could never wear in the street, and snatched a bite of dough from Eliza’s bowl before I ran outside.
  5. instill
    teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
    He tried to instill some military training in me, but always sweetened it with candy.
  6. miasma
    unhealthy vapors rising from the ground or other sources
    It’s the source of a deadly miasma, a foul stench, indeed.
  7. noxious
    injurious to physical or mental health
    There are noxious fumes all around the district.
  8. bilious
    suffering from a liver disorder or gastric distress
    Mary Shewall died soon after of a bilious fever, and one could hardly fault her character.
  9. concede
    give over
    Taking care of accounts was one territory that Mother conceded to me.
  10. loiter
    linger, remain, or wait around for no apparent reason
    And no rambles today. You go to the market and then you come home. And do not let me hear of you loitering shamelessly in front of the Peale house.
  11. assailant
    someone who attacks
    I clenched my fists and whirled to face my assailant.
  12. impudence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    He snatched an apple from my basket and took a bite. The impudence.
  13. horde
    a vast multitude
    “Open a regular store for the hordes of people who are going to settle at this end of the city any day now.”
  14. quarantine
    place into enforced isolation, as for medical reasons
    The mayor should quarantine them on Hog Island for a few weeks and the fever would pass.
  15. scour
    rub hard or scrub
    They’ll make me scour the kettles again.
Created on Tue Oct 20 20:20:41 EDT 2015 (updated Thu Jun 12 15:11:18 EDT 2025)

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