Rebellion 1776 is a gripping novel that takes place smack in the middle of a revolution. Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak; Shout; The Seeds of America trilogy) applies her trademark humor, sensitivity, and prodigious other talents to the Revolutionary War, this time from the sharp-witted perspective of a 13-year-old white kitchen maid.
Political turmoil, a deadly epidemic, controversy over inoculation, systemic classism: 1776 was not an easy time to be a servant in Boston, especially one whose mother and siblings have died from smallpox and whose sailmaker father has disappeared. But spirited and resourceful Elsbeth Culpepper is up to the task. She finds work caring for patriot spy Mister Pike and his large family during the Siege of Boston. Between minding the children while they recover from the smallpox inoculation ("Taken together they were a Misery of Pikes, a Fever of Pikes, and a Puke of Pikes.") and trying to track down her Pappa, she barely has time to inflict revenge on two thieving scoundrels who are making life even more difficult for her and the Pike family.
Elsbeth's brave though risky stands against unfairness mark her as a feminist in spirit, if not in name. Anderson's fluid and lively storytelling is on full display in Elsbeth's thrilling exploits, clever manipulations, and hilarious wordplay, which shows up in biting parenthetical asides and entertaining insults like "foggy-brained numbskull" and "Captain Fizzlefart." Rebellion 1776 brings the American Revolution to street level, shining a brilliant light on the relevance history always has for the present. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor