Deadly
Illustrated by: Jean-Marc Superville Sovak
For Ages: 12 and up
- reading group guide
- 2awards
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Join the search for Typhoid Mary in this early twentieth-century CSI. Now in paperback!
Prudence Galewski doesn’t belong in Mrs. Browning’s esteemed School for Girls. She doesn’t want an “appropriate” job that makes use of refinement and charm. Instead, she is fascinated by how the human body works—and why it fails.
Prudence is lucky to land a position in a laboratory, where she is swept into an investigation of a mysterious fever. From ritzy mansions to shady bars and rundown tenements, Prudence explores every potential cause of the disease to no avail—until the volatile Mary Mallon emerges. Dubbed “Typhoid Mary” by the press, Mary is an Irish immigrant who has worked as a cook in every home the fever has ravaged. But she’s never been sick a day in her life. Is the accusation against her an act of discrimination? Or is she the first clue in solving one of the greatest medical mysteries of the twentieth century?
Prudence Galewski doesn’t belong in Mrs. Browning’s esteemed School for Girls. She doesn’t want an “appropriate” job that makes use of refinement and charm. Instead, she is fascinated by how the human body works—and why it fails.
Prudence is lucky to land a position in a laboratory, where she is swept into an investigation of a mysterious fever. From ritzy mansions to shady bars and rundown tenements, Prudence explores every potential cause of the disease to no avail—until the volatile Mary Mallon emerges. Dubbed “Typhoid Mary” by the press, Mary is an Irish immigrant who has worked as a cook in every home the fever has ravaged. But she’s never been sick a day in her life. Is the accusation against her an act of discrimination? Or is she the first clue in solving one of the greatest medical mysteries of the twentieth century?
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Buy from us:
- Atheneum Books for Young Readers |
- 304 pages |
- ISBN 9781442420410 |
- February 2011 |
- Grades 7 and up
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Praise
“From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL There’s plenty to think about and discuss in this diary-format novel based on the notorious case of Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary. It’s 1906 and 16-year-old Prudence is in her final year at a school for girls... but, unlike most of her classmates, Prudence isn’t interested in being an ornamental Gibson Girl. Instead, she craves a job where she can actually make a difference. She’s always been scientifically curious, particularly regarding the nature of infection and disease.... When she lands a position as assistant to an epidemiologist working for the Department of Health and Sanitation, she quits school completely to help investigate the microbial mystery of Mary Mallon, an immigrant cook and suspected healthy carrier of typhus, who adamantly denies she’s been unwittingly infecting a series of employers’ families and instead insists she’s the victim of anti-Irish discrimination. A deeply personal coming-of-age story set in an era of tumultuous social change, this is top-notch historical fiction that highlights the struggle between rational science and popular opinion as shaped by a sensational, reactionary press.”
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“From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL There’s plenty to think about and discuss in this diary-format novel based on the notorious case of Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary. It’s 1906 and 16-year-old Prudence is in her final year at a school for girls... but, unlike most of her classmates, Prudence isn’t interested in being an ornamental Gibson Girl. Instead, she craves a job where she can actually make a difference. She’s always been scientifically curious, particularly regarding the nature of infection and disease.... When she lands a position as assistant to an epidemiologist working for the Department of Health and Sanitation, she quits school completely to help investigate the microbial mystery of Mary Mallon, an immigrant cook and suspected healthy carrier of typhus, who adamantly denies she’s been unwittingly infecting a series of employers’ families and instead insists she’s the victim of anti-Irish discrimination. A deeply personal coming-of-age story set in an era of tumultuous social change, this is top-notch historical fiction that highlights the struggle between rational science and popular opinion as shaped by a sensational, reactionary press.”
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“Paced like a medical thriller, Deadly is the rare Y.A. novel in which a girl’s intellectual interests trump adolescent romance. A 16-year-old Jewish tenement dweller in 1906 New York pines away days at a finishing school on scholarship and nights helping midwife young mothers. When she quits school to assist the Department of Health and Sanitation in its pursuit of Typhoid Mary, she is awakened to nascent opportunities for women in science.”– New York Times Book Review, March 13, 2011
Read an Excerpt
September 7, 1906
I know that one day I won’t be on this earth anymore. A world without the physical me—what will that look like? I’ll seep down into the soil, become a plant, a tree; I’ll be falling leaves, yellow, crunching under a child’s feet until I am dust. Nothing. Gone.
Every September, the shivers come over me, thoughts of my brother’s terrifying death, and the questions—why did his short life end? Why do people have to die?
I write here, trying to explain, each word a stepping stone. These words illuminate my past; they bring me... see more
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Book Reviews
Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions for Deadly by Julie Chibbaro
1. How did the girl’s school help maintain stereotypes of women during that time? Why do you think Prudence longs for “a job that’s meaningful
2. What does Mary’s reaction to Mr. Soper and Prudence’s visit tell you about the stereotype of the Irish immigrants in America?
3. Why do you think it was so easy to spread diseases in the early 1900s?
4. Why do Prudence and her mother want to think of themselves only as American and nothing else? Was this true of most immigrants at this time in history? Explain your answer.
5. Prudence is leaving the girls’ school to work full-time with Mr. Soper. Do you think this was a good idea or not? Explain your position.
6. What conflict does Prudence struggle with as Mr. Soper tries to find Mary and get her to cooperate?
7. What is your opinion of the way the Mary Mallon case was handled by the health department? Do you think they did the right thing in capturing Mary like they did? Explain your answers by using supporting details. What would you have done differently?
8. Read the newspaper account on pages 246–248. Whose side does the newspaper seem to be taking? What facts does it contain? What name have they given Mary?
9. Why are other servants and Mary’s employers so uncooperative with Mr. Soper about stopping Mary Mallon from continuing her wo see more
Video
Deadly by Julie Chibbaro
An outbreak of typhoid fever is sweeping New York & science-whiz Prudence Galewski is determined to prove that she can solve this mystery.
Deadly by Julie Chibbaro
