Book Review- "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

"Fever 1793" is an exceptional novel about an actual Yellow Fever epidemic that  occurred in 1793 Philadelphia.

Young Mattie Cook and her family run a Coffeehouse in late  eighteenth century Philadelphia when the epidemic strikes. When Mattie's mother is infected with the disease, Mattie is sent to the countryside with her grandfather.

Eventually Mattie herself becomes infected and she goes through a terrible ordeal trying to survive not only her own illness but also the near breakdown of  authority in the city.

Filled with historical detail and memorable, realistic characters, Fever 1793, transports the reader back to a time that young people today would barely recognize.

"The Long Day" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Michael arose at 11:30 on Wednesday. Now that he no longer had a job, there didn't seem to be much reason to get up early anymore.

A sensor in his bed automatically sent a signal to the house robot so his breakfast was ready and on the table by the time he went downstairs.

The house robot was a remarkable device that took care of all of the household chores. Michael didn't have to lift a finger. After breakfast, Michael thought about what to do with the rest of the day.

Some days  he would go for a walk, but he found it too depressing to see all the others like himself wandering around with nothing to do.

For twenty years, Michael worked as mechanical engineer. Now a machine did his job and the government sent him a "displaced worker" check each month.

He had everything he needed, but he was miserable. A government-appointed therapist suggested that he try one of the virtual reality work simulators.

The simulators could duplicate the sensation of hundreds of different jobs from coal mining to CEO of a multi-national, but it wasn't the same thing as actually having a job.

Not long after he was "retired" Michael tried one of the day labor agencies. The agency sent him on a few jobs, but eventually even those dried up when it became more cost effective to use a machine.

Later in the evening, Michael made a decision and switched off the house robot. The next morning, he awoke at 8:00 AM and made his own breakfast. The eggs were a little burned, but it was still the best breakfast he ever had.