Smallpox Strikes! (The American Adventure Series #7)
Gr 4-6-Book seven in the series recounts the 1721 smallpox epidemic in Boston through the eyes of 11-year-old Rob Allerton. Hating his dull apprenticeship in his stepfather's shipping office, the boy enjoys the company of the local doctor, who convinces him of the efficacy of inoculations, even though they have been met with much fear and resistance by the local people. When his stepfather and stepbrother become ill, Rob cares for them and gains a new understanding of why his relationship with his younger stepbrother has been so difficult. The series has recurring characters, stories that teach life lessons, and a Christian emphasis. Black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings begin each chapter. A brief and not very helpful index and a list for further reading are appended. Didactic, pedestrian, and predictable, with a stylistic overuse of exclamation points and a physical appearance more like a work of nonfiction, this book offers a limited perspective, fictional characters, and fictionalized dialogue. If "storyography" is a new term coined to describe picture-book biographies that offer storied presentations of information, a new term could well be coined for this book, which is perhaps more fictionalized history than good historical fiction.-Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, MECopyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.