Deadly
Deadly
Deadly
Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, Julie Chibbaro
A mysterious outbreak of typhoid fever is sweeping New York. Could the city’s future rest with its most unlikely scientist? If Prudence Galewski is ever going to get out of Mrs. Browning’s esteemed School for Girls, she must demonstrate her refinement and charm by securing a job appropriate for a young lady. But Prudence isn’t like the other girls. She is fascinated by how the human body works and why it fails. With a stroke of luck, she lands a position in a laboratory, where she is swept into an investigation of the fever bound to change medical history. Prudence quickly learns that an inquiry of this proportion is not confined to the lab. From ritzy mansions to shady bars and rundown tenements, she explores every potential cause of the disease. But there’s no answer in sight—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. Strangely, though, she hasn’t been sick a day in her life. Is the accusation against her an act of discrimination? Or is she the first clue in a new scientific discovery? Prudence is determined to find out. In a time when science is for men, she’ll have to prove to the city, and to herself, that she can help solve one of the greatest medical mysteries of the twentieth century.

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Educational
  • Environment
  • Historical Fiction
  • Science

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
Profile Picture

Imagine living in a time period when no one knew how
infectious were spread. Prudence Galewski, the main
character of Deadly, by Julie Chibbaro, sees people around her becoming ill
with typhoid, a deadly disease that once plagued many.
Prudence is a budding female scientist who quits school to work as an
assistant in a laboratory. She and her supervisor discover
what they think is the key to the spread of typhoid - human
carriers. Prudence must learn to balance her own doubts

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