Jim Murphy

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

Jim Murphy

• 2004 Horn Book-nonfiction winner
• 2004 Sibert winner
• 2004 Newbery honor
• 2003 NBA–Youth finalist
• Score: 32.54

1793, Philadelphia. The nation’s capital and the largest city in North America is devastated by an apparently incurable disease, cause unknown…

In a powerful, dramatic narrative, critically acclaimed author Jim Murphy describes the illness known as yellow fever and the toll it took on the city”s residents, relating the epidemic to the major social and political events of the day and to 18th-century medical beliefs and practices. Drawing on first-hand accounts, Murphy spotlights the heroic role of Philadelphia”s free blacks in combating the disease, and the…

The Great Fire

Jim Murphy

• 1996 Newbery honor
• 1995 Horn Book-nonfiction honor
• Score: 12.46

A vertible cinematic account of the catastrophe that decimated much of Chicago in 1871, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes. Jim Murphy tells the story through the eyes of several survivors. These characters serve as dramatic focal points as the fire sweeps across the city, their stories illuminated by fascinating archival photos and maps outlining the spread of fire.

The Long Road to Gettysburg

Jim Murphy

• 1992 Golden Kite-nonfiction winner
• Score: 10.42

A description of the Battle of Gettysburg as seen through the eyes of nineteen-year-old Confederate lieutenant John Dooley and seventeen-year-old Union soldier Thomas Galway.

The Boy's War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War

Jim Murphy

• 1990 Golden Kite-nonfiction winner
• Score: 10.4

Includes diary entries, personal letters, and archival photographs to describe the experiences of boys, sixteen years old or younger, who fought in the Civil War.

Blizzard!: The Storm That Changed America

Jim Murphy

• 2001 Sibert honor
• Score: 6.51

Snow began falling over New York City on March 12, 1888. All around town, people struggled along slippery streets and sidewalks — some seeking the warmth of their homes, some to get to work or to care for the less fortunate, and some to experience what they assumed would be the last little snowfall of one of the warmest winters on record. What no one realized was that in a very few hours, the wind and snow would bury the city in nearly 21 inches of snow and bring it to a ferocious standstill.

Across America on an Emigrant Train

Jim Murphy

An account of Robert Louis Stevenson’s twelve day journey from New York to California in 1879, interwoven with a history of the building of the transcontinental railroad and the settling of the West.

Pick & Shovel Poet: The Journeys of Pascal D'Angelo

Jim Murphy

A biography of an Italian peasant who immigrated to America in the early twentieth century and endured poverty and the difficult life of an unskilled laborer, determined to become a published poet.