Middle grade at it's best. Great character development. Some predictability but that is welcome with this age reader. There is mystery, intrigue and the opportunity to discuss what life was like back in the time of the American Revolution.

The questions was asked if could be added to classroom curriculum. It is fiction so perhaps as a fictional story of the time or added reading.

I would recommend this book.

Elsbeth Culpepper lives in Boston, Massachusetts in the Spring of 1776. The Patriots have taken control over Boston and her father, a sailmaker, has gone missing. As a teenager without a guardian, she finds herself in a precarious situation. Luckily, she is employed as a housemaid for the Pike family. She takes care of their seven children and the household chores under the watchful eye of their odious housekeeper Widow Nash. She also becomes a companion to their ward, Hannah Sparhawk, a wealthy young lady whose elderly grandmother is unable to take care of her. A smallpox outbreak is occurring at this time and the family is inoculated against it. This means weeks of sickness during which Elsbeth is in the best position to help the family, as she is a survivor of smallpox. Many unexpected events happen one after another - Elspeth's search for her missing father, Hannah and Elsbeth trying to figure out how to free her from her terrible guardian, privateer Captain Hunter, the family suffering from smallpox, and other obstacles that Elsbeth has to face. There is an unexpected death in the book that is quite sad. Elsbeth does have a happy ending as shown in the final chapter that covers the 5 years after the last major event of the novel.

At the time of great significance in the country, Elsbeth, a kitchen maid, is using her wits and resources to get by. While Boston is under siege, her arranged master has to evacuate, and she is left to serve the new occupant of his home. Soon his family arrives and her tasks and responsibilities multiply exponentially.

Elsbeth uses her connections and relationships to maneuver herself into an acceptable albeit lower class situation. She even manages to help a friend and keep her hopes alive that she'll be reunited with her father.

This is a tale of class. It's also a tale of the roles women were assigned (regardless of class) during this time of great import to our country. I think students of history and the Revolutionary War will appreciate this perspective.

I liked Elsbeth from the very beginning -- she's got spunk! And she's a survivor. The chapter-opening quotes are a terrific addition; the librarian in me went fact checking, just because. As a result, I learned a bit more about the American Revolution, The smallpox epidemic plays big in this story which sets it apart from other historical fiction about the same timeframe. I found myself reading a chapter at a time until the climax shift at about the 65% mark -- then I couldn't put it down, Recommed for sure. Thank you NetGalley for the advance reading opportunity.

Great book for 4th to 6th grade girls who enjoy realistic fiction. Our heroine faces many trials and tribulations during the Revolutionary War when Boston goes into lockdown for voluntary inoculations against smallpox. Not recommended for whole class reading, but yes recommended for individuals who like reading stories about pioneers and individuals with grit and good survival instincts. Remember the setting is town life, not the wilderness, which is an entirely different set of survival skills. It's more about dealing with individuals rather than battling the elements. This story will be added to our classroom 4th quarter book selection list.

Rebellion 1776 is set in Boston and includes well researched information about the American Revolution as well as the smallpox epidemic. The method used for innoculations was accurately described. Thirteen year old Elsbeth Culpepper's father has disappeared. She is struggling to survive by working for a wealthy family so that she can stay in the Boston area in case her father returns and is looking for her. When the family who employs Elsbeth is innoculated, Elsbeth has her hands full with their care. Excellent read that will be of interest to ages 12 through adult. This would be a great read for a book club.

Laurie Halse Anderson has done it again! She’s brought us a historical fiction novel that reminds us of the times leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Elsbeth finds herself trying to survive during Smallpox which has taken the life of her mother and sibling. She becomes a house maid and her father goes missing.
So much takes place in a short amount of time. You’ll be rooting for Elsbeth the entire time! I have so much to share but it would lead to a spoiler. If you are a fan of LHA there are some hidden gems only you’d understand.

“However, dear reader, the lives of ordinary girls like me rarely unfold in such a predictable fashion.”
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It’s Spring 1776 and Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of the Siege of Boston, which turns her city into a war zone. Elsbeth’s father, her only living relative after small pox took her mother and siblings, goes missing, leaving Elsbeth alone. She doesn’t want to end up in an orphanage and can pass for sixteen years old, making employment easier to obtain. She gets a job as a nanny and maid, caring for young children just as a pandemic sweeps through the city of Boston, barring anyone from leaving. Elsbeth had small pox and is now immune so she takes on the task of caring for those who contract this deadly disease. In the midst of it all, she’s still hoping to be reunited with her father.
🦠
I’ve had this on my radar since I attended a @simonandschuster author event at #alaac23 and spent some time with Laurie. Then I got to chat with her about it when I moderated a panel at #nttbf24 I’ve been dying for this MG historical fiction and it was worth the wait! Congrats on another home run, Laurie! This is going to be a great book to compare to current events, as well as learn from our history and potentially pair with Fever, 1793 that our 8th graders read. This novel releases April 1!

CW: death, illness, pandemic (theme), violence, child death, death of a parent, parental abandonment, emesis, war (theme)

I wanted a bit more on the war/action/adventure side and less of the smallpox side.

I’ve used Halse Anderson’s “Fever 1793” in my classroom for a number of years as the center of a cross-curricular Health/Social Studies project. “Rebellion 1776” is just as successful at transporting the reader to an earlier time while providing opportunities to examine struggles of the period, many of which are very relevant today.
I can’t wait to have this available for my middle school students to dive into. With action, romance, science, and history, there’s something for everyone.
I’d recommend it for 5th grade and up, as some background in the Revolutionary War is necessary, and there are some emotionally difficult events.
The only shortcoming I found was near the end of the book, where there was more telling than showing.

This is a lovely book centered around the Revoulutionary War. It would fit with Social Studies units and has a lot of information about the smallpox epidemic and vaccine. I enjoyed reading this book. I have read other books by Laurie Halse Anderson and they are always a great read for young adults. I did, however, find this book to be very slow moving in action at times. The storyline is not as fast-paced as some of her other novels, but it is historical fiction after all. Any student interested in this time period in history would enjoy the story.

This is the story of 13 year old Elsbeth during the Siege of Boston and the smallpox epidemic. Through a turn of events she ends up working for a wealthy family and her father disappears. I really love the past historical fiction books by Laurie Halse Anderson. I found this one a bit hard to follow. I learned a lot and definitely wanted to find out what happened with all the characters.

4 stars

If you, like me, are still a little wary of books set in times of medical crises, don't let that pull you away from this one. There's a lot to like about this new effort from Anderson, even for those of us with pandemic fatigue.

Elsbeth is 13, and she is seemingly all alone in the world since her immediate family has been taken out by the smallpox epidemic (maybe this is extra useful info now since it seems like the federal government wants us to experience this in the modern era, too...?). One person aside from Elsbeth escaped this terrible fate: her father. However, he goes missing, leaving Elsbeth to find a way forward with little resources.

For me, Elsbeth is a bit underdeveloped. I really enjoyed getting a view of her society, but I found myself wanting to get deeper into her head in the process. Like all middle grade, this one wraps with a nice, tidy bow, so be prepared for an outcome that is a little bit smoother than we might expect in reality.

Overall, this is a solid read that is engaging and highlights historical information that will be useful to readers of all ages.

Rebellion 1776 is a middle-grade historical fiction novel, featuring the life of a young house servant living in Boston in 1776. She’s witness to the city's change from the loyalists to the patriots, destruction, and the horror of the smallpox epidemic. Elsbeth and her father, a sailmaker, moved to Boston from Philadelphia after losing her mother and brothers to smallpox. Elsbeth survived smallpox and has an immunity. She’s been hired as a servant to a wealthy loyalist but is left alone when he abandons his home. Now, she is alone, afraid, confused and can't find her father and isn't sure what she should do next.
She meets a young doctor in training who brings Mr. Pike to the now-abandoned house she is living in. He is a Patriot who has been jailed by the British Army and has lost his home. He moves his large, rowdy family into the house and Elsbeth becomes their servant. She hides the fact that her father is missing and struggles to make it through a life filled with hard work while still hoping to locate her father one day. Meanwhile, the revolution rages on.

Laurie Halse Anderson has written another exciting novel filled with historical information, bringing the year 1776 alive.

The story unfolds through Elsbeth’s , feminist, and sometimes humorous perspective.

Unfortunately timely and packed with emotion.
Elsbeth is a 13-year-old maid living in Boston during the Revolutionary War. When the Loyalists are pushed out by Washington's army, Elsbeth's father considers leaving as well. Her mother and siblings died of smallpox and her father moved them from Philadelphia to Boston and Elsbeth isn't sure about leaving again. But the night of evacuation comes and Elsbeth's father goes missing. Her employer also leaves, which puts her in a precarious position. She ends up staying at the house when a wealthy Patriot spy's family moves in, and she becomes their maid. While she grows fond of the family she serves, she desperately misses her father and, alongside her best friend Shubel, risks a lot to find him.
This is a complex and layered story that is presented in such a heartfelt and tender way, and accessible to its audience. There were so many quotable quotes and important commentary on war, women's rights, epidemics/health/vaccinations, freedom, independence, family, friendship class, race...LHA is a master at historical fiction, and I just knew I would love this. I fell in love with reading in no small part due to Fever 1793. The visceral reaction toward a disease waging war was so perfectly balanced with the depth of emotion and care evoked toward the main character is a constant in both these novels.
The irony of the fight for our country's founding feeling so alike to the fight within it 250 years later is not lost on me. I'll end this with the same way the book ended.
"Rebellions are unexpected, violent things, dear reader, filled one moment with terror and another with joy. If you ever wind up in one, know that most days, you'll be swimming in uncertainty. That is why you must equip yourself with the tools of courage: a strong body, a quick mind, and good friends. Thus armed, you will weather any storms that the Fates send your way.
Best of all, you'll be prepared for the days of true independence that await you.
Huzzah!"

As a fan of the trilogy, "Chained," I had high hopes for this book. I was thinking it was going to be a revolutionary tale, but instead was a tale of sickness and smallpox. It was hard to get into feeling for any character, and the climax was predictable. Although it is a tale of smallpox, we follow our main character through daily chores and inquiries about her father, who left here in the care of another family. I wasn't invested in any family member, nor the tension with trying to report Elsbeth as a spy, that was quickly washed away. This book had none of the suspense and tension that previous novels by this author had.

I appreciate NetGalley and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and review Laurie Halse Anderson's new book Rebellion 1776. It's a wonderful middle-grade book featuring the life of a young house servant living in Boston in 1776. She sees the city's transfer from the loyalists to the patriots, bombardments, and the smallpox epidemic. Elsbeth and her father, a sailmaker, moved to Boston from Philadelphia after losing her mother and brothers to smallpox. She is hired as a servant to a wealthy loyalist but is left alone when he abandons his home. She can't find her father and isn't sure what to do next. She meets a young doctor in training who brings Mr. Pike to the now-abandoned house she is living in. He is a Patriot who has been jailed by the British Army and has lost his home. He moves his large, rowdy family into the house and Elsbeth becomes their servant. She hides the fact that her father is missing and struggles to make it through a life filled with hard work while still hoping for news of her father's whereabouts. Laurie Halse Anderson has added funny asides into the story that help us root for Elsbeth throughout the book.

What a delightful historical fiction story for kids 5th-7th grade. Super fun, high stakes, and well paced. Honest look at servitude, the small pox epidemic, and yet not boring or overwhelmingly sad. Thanks to NetGalley and Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books for an early read in exchange for an honest review.

I decided to preview this book to see if it could be a possible replacement for our 5th grade's novel study during their American Revolution unit. With the title of Rebellion 1776, I assumed it would be more about the Revolutionary War, but it was not. It was about a smallpox quarantine of Boston in 1776, and a servant girl who lived during that time. I liked our main character, Elsbeth, who is smart and spunky. It is a quick moving story, full of contrasts between the wealthy and the commoner classes. It is well written in language that is both understandable, and also represents the language of the time. It is very descriptive, allowing the reader to picture the story in their mind.

Great historical middle grade fiction. Perfect for 5th graders studying US history. Little violence with a great storyline. It is a long story but easy to understand. The characters and plot make the book enjoyable for middle and high schoolers as well.

I have loved Anderson’s books on similar historical events so I was excited to have a chance to read this book about the revolution in Boston. It started right in the middle of the action and hooked me immediately. I absolutely fell in love with the characters, especially the main character Elsbeth. She was fiesty and smart. This book had everything for me- fighting, romance, close relationships, and wholesome life lessons. Absolutely a must read.