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A review by panda_incognito
Daisy and the Deadly Flu: A 1918 Influenza Survival Story by Julie Gilbert
3.0
This story is grim and deeply sad, and because it is so short, most of the page count goes towards the devastation of the influenza pandemic, without much character development or many lighter moments to help a young reader process the tragedies. Many of the Girls Survive books would be difficult for highly sensitive children to read, but this one is so unremittingly bleak and so relevant to current experiences that parents and educators should be particularly careful when introducing this title.
Some reviewers have critiqued this chapter book for not addressing the current pandemic, but I'm not sure how it was supposed to, when it was published in FEBRUARY of 2020, and written well before that. I found it surreal and intriguing to read this, knowing that all of the parallels to current events and experiences were purely coincidental.
I enjoyed reading the author's note at the end, which provides context for aspects of this story, such as the prejudice against German Americans in the World War One era and the temporary governmental acts that suppressed freedom of speech and the freedom of the press at that time. The author also writes about her research into the influenza pandemic, referencing specific details related to the real town where she set this story. She also writes about how difficult it was for her to try to wrap her mind around the number of people who had died in the influenza pandemic.
This makes me wonder how she has coped with COVID-19, especially on the heels of a project like this. In future editions, it would be beneficial for the publisher to add a note related to the current pandemic, but as it stands, this book is a fascinating glimpse into some of the last pandemic fiction and pandemic research that we will ever have that is uninfluenced by COVID-19.
Some reviewers have critiqued this chapter book for not addressing the current pandemic, but I'm not sure how it was supposed to, when it was published in FEBRUARY of 2020, and written well before that. I found it surreal and intriguing to read this, knowing that all of the parallels to current events and experiences were purely coincidental.
I enjoyed reading the author's note at the end, which provides context for aspects of this story, such as the prejudice against German Americans in the World War One era and the temporary governmental acts that suppressed freedom of speech and the freedom of the press at that time. The author also writes about her research into the influenza pandemic, referencing specific details related to the real town where she set this story. She also writes about how difficult it was for her to try to wrap her mind around the number of people who had died in the influenza pandemic.
This makes me wonder how she has coped with COVID-19, especially on the heels of a project like this. In future editions, it would be beneficial for the publisher to add a note related to the current pandemic, but as it stands, this book is a fascinating glimpse into some of the last pandemic fiction and pandemic research that we will ever have that is uninfluenced by COVID-19.