Description
12-year-old Rose and her older brother, Lem, live with their parents above the family spice shop. It is London in 1665, and a terrible disease is claiming hundreds of lives. Father mixes an oil that he says can prevent the disease but can’t cure it. Mother dies from the Plague, and Father gets it. He gives the children the oil and tells them to leave, then he burns their shop, home, and himself. Rose and Lem end up living under a bridge, and then Lem disappears. Rose is on her own, but she is resourceful and makes some friends. Soon six children are trying to survive in Plague-filled London.||Caroline Fernandez has written a compelling story of brave kids facing nearly insurmountable odds in a fascinating historical period. Young readers are captivated by the horror of that time, and they will be engrossed by this book. The characters are interesting and mostly believable. Clove sounds much older than she is, and the dialogue sounds too modern. There is some historical inaccuracy. (The term sandwich appeared first in the 18th century.) But those small complaints won’t keep young readers away from this very good middle-grade book.