Three starred reviews!

From New York Times bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson comes an "thoroughly researched, emotionally resonant" (Booklist, starred review) historical fiction middle grade adventure about a girl struggling to survive amid a smallpox epidemic, the public's fear of inoculation, and the seething Revolutionary War.

In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It's the Siege of Boston, the Patriots' massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth's father--her only living relative--has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage.

Just when things couldn't feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Now, Bostonians must fight for their lives against an invisible enemy in addition to the visible one. While a treatment is being frantically fine-tuned, thousands of people rush in from the countryside begging for inoculation. At the same time, others refuse protection, for the treatment is crude at best and at times more dangerous than the disease itself.

Elsbeth, who had smallpox as a small child and is now immune, finds work taking care of a large, wealthy family with discord of their own as they await a turn at inoculation, but as the epidemic and the revolution rage on, will she find her father?

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Published: 04/01/2025
Pages: 416
Weight: 1.03lbs
Size: 8.53h x 5.83w x 1.41d
ISBN: 9781416968269

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.8
Point Value: 14
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 554767 / Rebellion 1776


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2025
Publishers Weekly 02/03/2025
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 03/01/2025
Booklist 02/01/2025 pg. 97
School Library Journal 03/01/2025 pg. 77
Shelf Awareness 04/06/2025
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2025 pg. 79
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2025 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style

About the Author
Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity. She's twice been a National Book Award finalist, for Chains and Speak; Chains also received the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Laurie was chosen for the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award and received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2023, presented to her by the Crown Princess of Sweden. She lives in Pennsylvania, and you can follow her adventures on X @HalseAnderson or visit her at MadWomanintheForest.com.