David and Eunice Sutherland Burgess Lecture: Laurie Halse Anderson 

An Evening with Award-Winning Author Laurie Halse Anderson 

The smallpox epidemic is the focus of Rebellion 1776, Laurie Halse Anderson’s compelling new middle-grade historical novel about a girl struggling to survive amid the epidemic, the public’s fear of inoculation, and the seething Revolutionary War. Thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper, a kitchen maid to a judge, survives the Siege of Boston only to find herself in a dangerous situation as British troops leave the city, her Loyalist employer leaves with them, and her father goes missing, leaving her alone. While she works in the large household of Mr. Pike, a wealthy Patriot spy, Elsbeth searches the city for her father. Then smallpox reaches the family, and Elsbeth, who survived an earlier infection, must nurse them through the inoculation process.

All in-person events will be held in the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium, Park Library.
A reception in the Clarke follows in-person events.