It's 1793, and there's an invisible killer roaming the streets of Philadelphia. The city's residents are fleeing in fear. This killer has a name -- yellow fever -- but everything else about it is a mystery. Its cause is unknown, and there is no cure. This powerful, dramatic account by award-winning author Jim Murphy traces the devastating course of the epidemic. The medical beliefs and practices of the time and the conditions that helped the disease to spread through the city that was then the nation's capital are vividly detailed. So, too, is the heroic role that free black Philadelphians played in saving their city. The efforts and intrigues of politicians and doctors -- among them George Washington and Benjamin Rush -- are also part of the narrative, and the search for the fever's causes and cure provides a suspenseful counterpoint to this riveting true story of a city under siege. Thoroughly researched and absorbing, An American Plague includes an unflinching discussion of medical details. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the conditions in American cities at the time of our nation's birth while drawing thought-provoking parallels to modern-day epidemics. Book jacket. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

In marked contrast to the clipped, suspenseful pace of his Inside the Alamo, Murphy here adopts a leisurely, lyrical tone to chronicle the invisible spread of the deadly disease that not only crippled Philadelphia (then the temporary capital of the U.S.) but also set off a constitutional crisis. The author evokes the stifling August heat as well as the boiling controversy surrounding President Washington's decision not to support the French in the war against Britain. The residents, so distracted by the controversy, did not take note of the rising numbers of dead animals lying in open "sinks," or sewers; swarms of insects festering, and a growing population of ill citizens climbing until the church bells tolled grim news of death almost constantly. Murphy injects the events with immediacy through his profiles of key players, such as local doctors who engaged in fierce debates as to the cause, treatment and nature of the "unmerciful enemy"-among them the famous Benjamin Rush. The text documents many acts of heroism, including the Free African Society's contributions of food, medicine and home care: the Society was rewarded afterwards only with injustice. Archival photographs and facsimiles of documents bring the story to life, and a list of further reading points those interested in learning more in the right direction. This comprehensive history of the outbreak and its aftermath lays out the disputes within the medical community and, as there is still no cure, offers a cautionary note. Ages 10-14. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 6-10-If surviving the first 20 years of a new nationhood weren't challenge enough, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, centering in Philadelphia, was a crisis of monumental proportions. Murphy chronicles this frightening time with solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories, beginning with the fever's emergence on August 3, when a young French sailor died in Richard Denny's boardinghouse on North Water Street. As church bells rang more and more often, it became horrifyingly clear that the de facto capital was being ravaged by an unknown killer. Largely unsung heroes emerged, most notably the Free African Society, whose members were mistakenly assumed to be immune and volunteered en masse to perform nursing and custodial care for the dying. Black-and-white reproductions of period art, coupled with chapter headings that face full-page copies of newspaper articles of the time, help bring this dreadful episode to life. An afterword explains the yellow fever phenomenon, its causes, and contemporary outbreaks, and source notes are extensive and interesting. Pair this work with Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful novel Fever 1793 (S & S, 2000) and you'll have students hooked on history.-Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 6-12. History, science, politics, and public health come together in this dramatic account of the disastrous yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation's capital more than 200 years ago. Drawing on firsthand accounts, medical and non-medical, Murphy re-creates the fear and panic in the infected city, the social conditions that caused the disease to spread, and the arguments about causes and cures. With archival prints, photos, contemporary newspaper facsimiles that include lists of the dead, and full, chatty source notes, he tells of those who fled and those who stayed--among them, the heroic group of free blacks who nursed the ill and were later vilified for their work. Some readers may skip the daily details of life in eighteenth-century Philadelphia; in fact, the most interesting chapters discuss what is now known of the tiny fever-carrying mosquito and the problems created by over-zealous use of pesticides. The current struggle to contain the SARS epidemic brings the unshakeable unease chillingly close. HazelRochman. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Jim Murphy has written more than twenty-five books for young people. In addition to the Newbery Honor, which he received for The Great Fire, he has won many other awards, including the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award and a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor. He is also the two-time winner of both the SCBWI Golden Kite Award and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Mr. Murphy lives with his family in Maplewood, New Jersey Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Chapter 1 No One Noticed	1
Chapter 2 "All Was Not Right"	11
Chapter 3 Church Bells Tolling	21
Chapter 4 Confusion, Distress, and Utter Desolation	35
Chapter 5 "It Was Our Duty"	47
Chapter 6 The Prince of Bleeders	57
Chapter 7 "By Twelve Only"	67
Chapter 8 "This Unmerciful Enemy"	79
Chapter 9 "A Delicate Situation"	91
Chapter 10 Improvements and the Public Gratitude	103
Chapter 11 "A Modern-Day Time Bomb"	125
Sources	141
Acknowledgments	155
A Note About the Illustrations	157
Index	159

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