A Death-Struck Year

Synopsis

For Cleo Berry, the people dying of the Spanish Influenza in cities like New York and Philadelphia may as well be in another country--that's how far away they feel from the safety of Portland, Oregon. And then cases start being reported in the Pacific Northwest.

Schools, churches, and theaters shut down. The entire city is thrust into survival mode--and into a panic. Headstrong and foolish, seventeen-year-old Cleo is determined to ride out the pandemic in the comfort of her own home, rather than in her quarantined boarding school dorms.

But when the Red Cross pleads for volunteers, she can't ignore the call. As Cleo struggles to navigate the world around her, she is surprised by how much she finds herself caring about near-strangers.

Strangers like Edmund, a handsome medical student and war vet. Strangers who could be gone tomorrow. And as the bodies begin to pile up, Cleo can't help but wonder: when will her own luck run out?

Riveting and well-researched, A Death-Struck Year is based on the real-life pandemic considered the most devastating in recorded world history.

Readers will be captured by the suspenseful storytelling and the lingering questions of: what would I do for a neighbor? At what risk to myself?

An afterword explains the Spanish flu phenomenon, placing it within the historical context of the early 20th century. Source notes are extensive and interesting.

A Spring 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices selection

Copyright:

2014

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780544306707

Related ISBNs:

9780544541184

Publisher:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Date of Addition:

03/15/18

Copyrighted By:

Makiia Lucier

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Children's Books, Romance, Health, Mind and Body, Literature and Fiction, Parenting and Family, Science Fiction and Fantasy

Grade Levels:

Seventh grade

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.