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Rebellion 1776
Author
Publication Date
April 01, 2025
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction / 6th − 8th
Language
English
Format
Chapter Book
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Description
From New York Times bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson comes an eerily timely 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?
Publication date
April 01, 2025
Genre
Fiction
Page Count
416
ISBN-13
9781416968269
Publisher
Atheneum Books
BISAC categories
JUV015020 - Juvenile Fiction | Health & Daily Living | Diseases, Illnesses & Injuries
JUV013050 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Orphans & Foster Homes
JUV016120 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - Colonial & Revolutionary Periods
JUV013050 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Orphans & Foster Homes
JUV016120 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - Colonial & Revolutionary Periods
Library of Congress categories
History
United States
Historical fiction
18th century
Revolution, 1775-1783
Teenage girls
Epidemics
Smallpox
Vaccination
Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
United States
Historical fiction
18th century
Revolution, 1775-1783
Teenage girls
Epidemics
Smallpox
Vaccination
Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Kirkus
Engrossing, entertaining, and heartfelt.
Publishers Weekly
This well-crafted novel by Anderson (Shout) opens in March 1776, on the eve of the Loyalists’ forced evacuation of Boston. Thirteen-year-old Patriot supporter Elsbeth Culpepper is new to Boston following relocating with her father from Philadelphia after her mother and siblings’ deaths from smallpox. When her father disappears on Evacuation Day, Elsbeth, passing for 16 due to her height, feels lucky to be hired as a servant by Patriot spy Mister Pike, even after the arrival of his large family, including their headstrong ward Hannah Sparhawk and demanding housekeeper. Quick-thinking Elsbeth conquers the chaos of the Pikes and finds a protector in Hannah but worries about her only friend in Boston, “masterless,” orphaned Shube—who is suddenly inspiring a “strange volley of sensations” in her—and strives to find her father. Period details of daily life during the events of the founding of the United States—relayed via Elsbeth’s historically faithful narration—immerse readers in the era, and plot points become compellingly relevant to contemporary times when Boston is hit by the smallpox epidemic and controversies about inoculation abound. Dated chapters open with quotations from primary sources, enhancing the historical ambiance. Includes a map of Boston, source list, and bibliography. Main characters are white.
Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson is the New York Times-bestselling author who writes for all ages. Known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity, her work has sold nearly five million copies. Two of her books, Speak and Chains, were National Book Award finalists. Chains also made the Carnegie Medal shortlist in the United Kingdom. Her YA novel, The Impossible Knife of Memory, was longlisted for the National Book Award.
Laurie was the proud recipient of the 2015 Intellectual Freedom Award given by the National Council of Teachers of English, and the 2011 Free Speech Defender Award given by the National Coalition Against Censorship and presented to her by her hero, Judy Blume. She has also received the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award given by YALSA division of the American Library Association, the ALAN Award given by the National Council of Teachers of English, the St. Katharine Drexel Award from the Catholic Librarian Association, and the Outstanding Alumni Award, given by the American Association of Community Colleges. She was also nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2017, which is one of her proudest accomplishments because it is presented to children's book creators from around the world in honor of the work and life of Sweden's magnificent Astrid Lindgren. Emily Carroll, an Eisner Award winning illustrator and author of Through the Woods, is also the creator of many popular Web comics. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.