Fever 1793: Chapters 20–24

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. corpse
    the dead body of a human being
    A man dressed in rags pushed a large cart that already contained two corpses — a child and young woman, their skin tinted a pale yellow.
  2. shroud
    burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped
    They wrapped the cloth around him and quickly sewed the shroud shut with thick curved needles.
  3. spiteful
    showing malicious ill will and a desire to hurt
    A spiteful voice hissed in my head. Shut up, Mattie, the voice said.
  4. queasy
    feeling nausea
    I felt faint and queasy.
  5. exorbitant
    greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
    They charge exorbitant prices for their wares, and get whatever they ask,” he said bitterly.
  6. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    The sodden wharf planks moaned as the tide pulled the river water toward the open sea.
  7. cower
    crouch or curl up
    A small child cowered in the corner, her blonde hair loose and tangled, her feet bare and black with dirt.
  8. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    I couldn’t care for Nell; I could barely care for myself. And her mother needed burying, though I didn’t relish another trip back to the public square.
  9. wraith
    a ghostly figure, especially one seen shortly before death
    “You don’t look well,” the woman said. “You look like a wraith.”
  10. apothecary
    a retail shop where medicine and other articles are sold
    “Are you come from the apothecary?” the man asked in a rasping voice.
  11. harried
    troubled persistently, especially with petty annoyances
    “Thank you,” I told the harried woman.
  12. epidemic
    a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease
    Eliza promised we would find my mother or learn her fate as soon as the epidemic was over.
  13. procure
    get by special effort
    We then offered our services in the public papers, by advertising that we would remove the dead and procure nurses.
  14. obligation
    the state of being bound to do or pay something
    Eliza dragged me inside, saying we still had an obligation to wash down the sickroom.
  15. anguish
    extreme distress of body or mind
    She squeezed her eyes and covered her mouth as she struggled to control her anguish.
Created on Tue Oct 20 21:30:34 EDT 2015 (updated Thu Jun 12 16:07:33 EDT 2025)

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