Emma’s Secret

“What’s cholera?” Emma asked.

“It’s a disease that can kill people in hours. Dr. Drake says someone can get it in the morning and be dead by night. Rob’s voice sounded even more scared than it had when he saw the snakes. “And Dr. Drake says it’s coming here. He doesn’t know when, but it’s coming here.”

Book: Emma's Secret: The Cincinnati Epidemic (Sisters in Time Book 9) by Veda Boyd Jones, Barbour Publishers, 2005

Genre: Historical Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 9-15

Subjects: Jealousy, Women’s Rights, Fear, Dreams, Prayer

Summary: It’s all so fascinating! The skeleton, the medical books, the science experiments, the discussions! The only problem is that it doesn’t seem to occur to Dr. Drake or anyone else that maybe Emma might be as interested in the medical field as her cousin Rob. Soon though, bigger worries come when first, a flood comes, then clean-up after the flood, then news of cholera and eventually, the dreaded disease itself makes it’s way to Cincinnati. Emma and Rob are not the only ones scared. Their families send them out to the country where they are away from exposure, but some loved ones stay in the city to keep working. Every day the children fear receiving word that someone they know is sick!

Notes: Emma’s Secret is the ninth in the Sisters-In-Time series. This series features young girls living at various key points in American history, particularly around the wars. It always places the girls right at the edge of the teen years, coming of age.  The concept of the series it to not only show a glimpse of history, but to help young girls feel that the people back then weren’t that different than the people today.

Emma’s Secret takes place in 1832 and focuses on the historical event of the Cincinnati Cholera Epidemic. It shows a young girl wanting to pursue education, specifically, medical training, just like her cousin, Rob. In this time most young women did not have careers outside of being a wife and mother though. The other focus is how she then applies what she has been learning about the medical field to the cholera epidemic. She and her cousin read and study all they can find on the disease and are able to help a loved one by giving warning of what symptoms to expect and what to do when the first of the symptoms come.  

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Psalm 103:1-6 – Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,  who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.