tanyarobinson 's review for:

American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy

4.0

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This was the first nonfiction Newbery winner I have ever read, and I could definitely see why it merited an award. Murphy incorporated attention-catching stories with hard facts and primary source documents, making history more accessible for the young reader. My only complaint was his account seemed weighted toward politically correct topics - he spent a great deal of time lauding the negro response to the yellow fever outbreak, which certainly deserved mention, but perhaps not such extensive treatment. I enjoyed the section where Murphy explicitly outlined the less obvious societal and governmental effects of the plague.