A Death-Struck Year

By Makiia Lucier

For Cleo Berry, the people dying of the Spanish Influenza in cities like New York and Philadelphia may as well be in another country—that's how far away they feel from the safety of Portland, Oregon. And then cases start being reported in the Pacific Northwest. Schools, churches, and theaters shut down. The entire city is thrust into survival mode—and into a panic. Headstrong and foolish, seventeen-year-old Cleo is determined to ride out the pandemic in the comfort of her own home, rather than in her quarantined boarding school dorms. But when the Red Cross pleads for volunteers, she can't ignore the call. As Cleo struggles to navigate the world around her, she is surprised by how much she finds herself caring about near-strangers. Strangers like Edmund, a handsome medical student and war vet. Strangers who could be gone tomorrow. And as the bodies begin to pile up, Cleo can't help but wonder: when will her own luck run out?
   Riveting and well-researched, A Death-Struck Year is based on the real-life pandemic considered the most devastating in recorded world history. Readers will be captured by the suspenseful storytelling and the lingering questions of: what would I do for a neighbor? At what risk to myself?
   An afterword explains the Spanish flu phenomenon, placing it within the historical context of the early 20th century. Source notes are extensive and interesting.

A Spring 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices selection

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9780544306707

Makiia Lucier

Makiia Lucier grew up on the Pacific Island of Guam and holds degress in journalism and library studies from the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She is the author of A Death-Struck Year, Isle of Blood and Stone, and Song of the Abyss. makiialucier.com Twitter: @makiialucier

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Makiia Lucier

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

www.hmhco.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Lucier, Makiia.

A death-struck year / Makiia Lucier.

pages cm

Summary: When the Spanish influenza epidemic reaches Portland, Oregon, in 1918, seventeen-year-old Cleo leaves behind the comfort of her boarding school to work for the Red Cross.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Influenza Epidemic, 1918–1919—Oregon—Portland—Juvenile fiction. [1. Influenza Epidemic, 1918–1919—Fiction. 2. Portland (Or.)—History—20th century—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.L9715De 2014 [Fic]—dc23 2013037482

ISBN 978-0-544-16450-5 hardcover

ISBN 978-0-544-54118-4 paperback

eISBN 978-0-544-30670-7

v3.0318

FOR CHRIS

Part One

---

And bound for the same bourn as I,

On every road I wandered by,

Trod beside me, close and dear,

The beautiful and death-struck year.

—A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad

Chapter One

---

Saturday, September 21, 1918

In the coming weeks, I would wish that I had done things differently. Thrown my arms around my brother, perhaps, and said, I love you, Jack. Words I hadn’t spoken in years. Or held on a little tighter to Lucy and said, Thank you. Thank you for watching over me, when my own mother could not. But the distance between hindsight and foresight is as vast as the Pacific. And on my family’s last evening in the city, my attention was fixed not on gratitude, certainly, but on myself. My sad, sorry, unambitious self.

Famous American Women: Vignettes from the Past and Present. Curled up on the settee, I read the book from first page to last, hoping inspiration would strike and put an end to my misery. This! This is who you were meant to be, Cleo Berry. Go now and live your life.

So far no luck.

I reviewed. Abigail Burgess Grant, lighthouse keeper at Matinicus Rock, Maine. I tried to picture it: the windswept coast, the salty air, the nearest neighbor miles away. No, I thought. Too lonely. I turned the page. Isabella Marie Boyd, wartime spy. Too dangerous. Geraldine Farrar, opera singer. Not nearly enough talent. I lingered over the entry for Eleanor Dumont, first female blackjack player, otherwise known as Madame Mustache. My spirits lifted a little as I imagined my brother’s expression.

Lucy sat across from me, dressed for dinner and muttering over her itinerary. Jack stood near the parlor’s window, pouring whiskey into a glass. His tie had been pulled loose, a navy suit jacket tossed onto the piano bench. We both favored our father, Jack and I, with gray eyes, hair black as pitch, and, to my sibling’s everlasting embarrassment, dimples deep enough to launch a boat in. He glanced over, caught my eye, and tipped his glass in my direction. A friendly offer. Sixteen years my senior, my brother practiced an unorthodox form of guardianship: tolerant in some ways, overbearing in others. Whiskey was allowed. Young men were not.

I shook my head, then asked, What does an ornithologist do?

Jack placed the stopper into the decanter. An ornithologist? Someone who studies birds, I believe.

Disappointed, I looked down. Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey, ornithologist. No, too boring. This was impossible.

Do drink that behind a curtain, Jackson, Lucy said, looking out the window to where Mrs. Pike could be seen entering her home across the street. Mrs. Pike, the only neighbor we knew who took the Oregon Prohibition laws seriously. That woman would have us sent to Australia if she could. Cleo as well.

I don’t think they ship criminals to Australia anymore, darlin’. But Jack obliged, moving out of sight.

Lucy frowned at me. Are you sure you’ll be all right while we’re away? She paused, careful not to look at her husband. You do know you can always come with us.

Jack cleared his throat, not even attempting to mask a pained expression, and I couldn’t help but smile. Tomorrow he and Lucy would be on a train to San Francisco to celebrate their thirteenth wedding anniversary. It was to be an extended vacation, with some business thrown in on Jack’s part. They would be gone for six weeks.

No one wants their sister around on an anniversary trip, I said. It’s the opposite of romantic.

Thank you, Cleo, Jack said. Lucy looked ready to argue.

I’ll be fine. Truly, I added, knowing the real reason she worried. We’re too far west for the influenza. Everyone has said so.

I had heard of the Spanish influenza. Who had not? A particularly fierce strain of flu, it had made its way down the eastern seaboard, sending entire families to the hospitals, crippling the military training bases. The newspapers were filled with gruesome tales from Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Cities so far away, they could have been part of another country. But that was the extent of it. We were safe here in Oregon. In Portland. The Spanish flu had no interest in the northwestern states.

Very well, Lucy said, defeated. But here, this is for you. She handed me her itinerary. I looked it over. It contained their train arrival and departure information, as well as the names of friends located the entire length of the Pacific coast whom I could call on for assistance should I need it. Also, a reminder that they would be returning on November third, a Sunday, and would stop directly at St. Helen’s Hall to bring me home.

The same old complaint lodged on the tip of my tongue, and I bit down, hard. I didn’t want to spoil their last evening by showing how unhappy I was. They knew already. But inside, I wanted to kick something.

Many of my schoolmates had homes outside the city, traveling in from towns such as Coos Bay, Eugene, Bend, and Sisters. Others hailed from farther out: Juneau, Coeur d’Alene, Walla Walla, even Honolulu. Some lived in the student dormitories during the week and spent weekends with their families. Others traveled home only during the holidays.

I was a day student. Jack drove me to school each morning on the way to his office, and I walked home in the afternoon. Or rode the streetcar. But while Jack and Lucy were away, the house was to be closed up. Our housekeeper, Mrs. Foster, given leave. She would also be traveling tomorrow, by steamboat, to visit her son in Hood River.

I had begged to be allowed to remain at home on my own, not liking one bit the thought of six weeks in the dormitories—away from my comfortable bedroom, away from any hope of privacy. My brother was unsympathetic. He had boarded throughout his own school years. He said it built character. And that I shouldn’t grumble, because no matter how awful a girls’ dormitory might be, a boys’ residence was a thousand times worse.

I skimmed the rest of Lucy’s notes. I was to telephone the Fairmont San Francisco once a week, each Saturday, to confirm I remained in the land of the living. Good grief, I thought.

Good Lord, Jack said at the same time, peering over my shoulder. Lucy, she’s seventeen, not seven.

Lucy gave him a look, then proceeded to guide me through every part of their schedule. I resisted the urge to close my eyes. The smell of roasting potatoes drifted from the kitchen, and I remembered Mrs. Foster was preparing a salmon for our last supper. Beyond Lucy, the luggage was piled high in the front hall, enough trunks and suitcases and hatboxes to send six people off in style.

Trying to be discreet, I lifted a corner of the itinerary and peeked at my book. Maria Mitchell, first American woman astronomer, director of the observatory at Vassar College. Kate Furbish, botanical artist. Harriet Boyd Hawes, pioneering archaeologist. My head fell back against the cushions, and I sighed, long and tortured.

Who has let in the bear? Lucy exclaimed.

I straightened. While I’d been woolgathering, Jack had settled beside Lucy, his glass cradled in one hand, his other arm flung across the back of the settee. Two pairs of eyes regarded me with amused exasperation.

All this heavy breathing, Lucy continued. "What is troubling you, Cleo?"

Well, what harm could come from telling them? They might be able to help.

It’s only September, Lucy said, after I explained my dilemma. There are nine months left of school.

You can’t be the only one trying to figure things out, Jack added. I wouldn’t feel like a chump just yet.

"But I do. I do feel like a chump. I counted my friends on my hand. Louisa is getting married in July. I ticked off one finger. Her fiancé is almost thirty and has already lost most of his hair. But he’s very rich, and her papa thinks he’s very handsome."

Jack snorted. Lucy laughed, smoothing the skirt of her sapphire-blue dress. My sister-in-law was small and fair-haired and pretty, with eyes more amber than brown. No one was ever surprised to learn she had been born in Paris. She looked French and carried herself in a way that made me feel like a baby giraffe in comparison. Tall and gangling, with Mrs. Foster constantly having to let out my skirt hems.

A second finger ticked off. Fanny is moving to New York to study poetry. She plans to become a bohemian and smoke cigarettes. Recalling this bit of information, I felt a twinge of envy. New York City. Tea at the Plaza. All those museums. How glamorous it sounded.

Jack interrupted my thoughts. What kind of unorthodox institution are those women running?

I dropped my hand. Rebecca already has her early acceptance letter from Barnard. Myra is sending in her application to the University of Washington. Charlotte, Emmaline, and Grace are all going to the University of Oregon. I set the book and the itinerary on the table, beside a well-thumbed copy of American Architect. "And Margaret will wait for Harris. Then there’s me. I do know I want to attend university. Maybe study art. But I don’t really care to paint portraits. Or landscapes. I bit my lip, considering. Maybe I can study French. But what does one do after studying French?"

Marry, Jack said. Lucy smacked his knee lightly, but she smiled.

I looked into the fire, feeling gloomy. My schoolmates at least had an inkling of a plan. I had nothing. No plan. No dream. No calling. The uncertainty bothered me, like a speck in the eye that refused to budge.

I am utterly without ambition, I said.

At this, Jack leaned forward, pointing his glass at me. Now you’re just being melodramatic. Not everyone leaves school knowing their life’s purpose, Cleo. And those who do often change their minds ten times over. He waved a hand toward the window. Sometimes you need to go out in the world and live a little first.

Lucy reached over, gathered the itinerary, and tapped it against the table until the edges lined up. Go to university, she said, sympathetic. See what interests you. Young ladies today have the freedom to do what they like.

"Except become a bohemian, Jack said with a warning glance. He tossed back the rest of his drink and stood. There are enough sapphists in this city as it is."

Chapter Two

---

Wednesday, September 25, 1918

"A ut viam inveniam aut . . . aut facile?"

"No! It’s faciam, Cleo. Not facile. ‘I will either find a way or make one.’ We’ve gone over this before," Grace said.

It was nine o’clock at night. I was in my dormitory room, lying on a rickety old bed that had been moved from the attic for my temporary stay. Grace sat cross-legged on her quilt, her Latin textbook open before her. Across from us, Fanny lounged against a pile of pillows, reading poetry. Something depressing like Byron, likely, because she never read anything but. In the fourth bed, beside Fanny, Margaret wrote a letter to Harris and ignored us all.

Memorizing Latin is just like memorizing French or Italian, and you know both, Grace continued. You’re making this more difficult than it needs to be.

I’m not! I said, feeling stupid. And why should we learn it? Who uses Latin anymore? Old men, that’s who. It’s a dead language.

Well, you’re the one who’s going to be dead if you don’t pass this class, Grace said.

Fanny smirked. Like the rest of us, she wore a white nightgown that reached her ankles. But Fanny’s was topped with a blue satin wrapper covered in tiny silver stars. There would be hell to pay if Miss Elliot, our headmistress, happened by. Blue satin did not fall under the school’s approved category of sensible white cotton night clothing.

Grace is right, Cleo, Fanny said. Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium.

Margaret glanced up from her letter. Oh, do shut up, Fanny! she snapped. Fanny’s smile evaporated.

I sat up. What? What did she say?

Nothing. Grace cast her own withering look in Fanny’s direction. "Ignore her. Just listen for the roots. It’s easy. Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo." She flicked a blond braid over one shoulder, so long the ends skimmed the pages of her textbook.

A month ago, my own hair had been just as lengthy. But Lucy had decided to have hers shaped into a bob. I’d taken one look at the result, thrown caution to the wind, and cut my hair off too. Miss Elliot huffed and puffed whenever she saw me, saying it was a completely inappropriate hairstyle for a young lady. Lucy had only laughed and said it was impossible to please everyone.

I tried to concentrate. It was difficult. Next door Emmaline practiced her violin. Schubert’s L’Abeille, a piece that always made me feel as though I were trapped in a beehive. Aggravated, I reached up and pounded on the wall with the side of my fist. The buzzing stopped but only for a moment. Emmaline started up again, and I wished I were back on King Street. In my nice quiet home. As I had wished every day this week.

Cleo! Grace said, exasperated. Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo.

I concentrated. Fort was the French word for powerful. Modo was Italian for manner. In, thankfully, meant in. But what about re and suaviter? Powerful in blank, blank in manner. The faintest memory stirred, and I tried, ‘Resolute in action, gentle in manner’?

"Good! See? Qui tacet consentire videtur?"

‘He who is tacit’ . . . I began. Grace’s expression darkened. Um, ‘He who is silent gives consent’?

Yes!

I jumped as a crash sounded from another room, followed by girls giggling like lunatics. No one in our room batted an eye, though. They’d had years to get used to living in a zoo. I drew my knees up and wrapped both arms around them.

If I were at home, toothpowder wouldn’t clog the sinks, and clumps of hair wouldn’t stop the drains. The halls would smell like lemons, the way Mrs. Foster preferred. Not like damp stockings. Or feet. Or the hard-boiled eggs Fanny snuck in from dinner.

Grace turned a page. Si post fata venit gloria non propero.

I know that one, I said. ‘If one must die to be recognized, I can wait.’

Fanny rose and wandered out of the room. In her blue wrap and with her brown hair loose and flowing, I grudgingly admitted she would make a very good bohemian in New York City.

The door! Margaret called.

Fanny disappeared, leaving it wide open. I scowled after her as well, having just deciphered her earlier insult. Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium. Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. Trollop. Just once, it would be nice to think of a retort at the exact right moment. Not five minutes later, when the effect was lost completely.

Dulce bellum inexpertis, Grace droned.

I sighed. ‘War is sweet to those who never fought’?

Faber est quisque fortunae suae.

‘Every man is the architect of his own fortune.’

Through the open doorway, I glimpsed red.

Amare et—

Louisa! I yelled. When there was no response from the hall, I jumped off the bed and was out the door in an instant.

Louisa.

Louisa turned. There was no mistaking the guilt in her brown eyes. Yes?

Yes? Is that all you’re going to say? Louisa had yet to change into her nightgown. I looked pointedly at the cherry-red sweater she wore over her white blouse. My cherry-red sweater. "One usually asks to borrow clothing before wearing it."

I’m sorry. But I couldn’t find you and . . . She smiled sweetly, not fooling me one bit. May I borrow your sweater, Cleo?

No. I held out a hand.

Well. Louisa pouted and sulked. She removed the sweater and dropped it into my hand, before marching down the hall to her own room. A door slammed.

If I were at home, no one would enter my bedroom without permission. Lucy wouldn’t steal my clothing. Or my shampoo, which had also mysteriously gone missing.

How do you bear it? I asked no one in particular.

Fanny brushed by me on her way back into the room. My mother says there’s a history of kleptomania in that family. I told you to keep the door locked.

Emmaline was playing a new piece, one I did not recognize. I stood in my doorway, listening as the music reached a violent, off-key crescendo. I inspected my sweater. A button was missing.

Jack and Lucy wouldn’t be home until the third of November.

Five and a half more weeks.

Chapter Three

---

Monday, September 30, 1918

Greta lay sprawled and lifeless with her head against my skirt. The rag doll was four feet tall, the same height as its owner, with red yarn hair. Her blue gingham dress looked as if it had been pulled through a dirt field. She was missing both eyes.

Baffled, I studied the doll, then looked at the six-year-old playing at my feet. What happened, Emily? I asked. Did you pluck her eyes out?

Anna did it, Emily said. She told me Greta’s button eyes gave her the willies. She pulled them out while I was having my bath.

Lord, I said under my breath.

Emily’s brown eyes were big and anxious. You’ll fix her, won’t you, Cleo?

I’ll fix her. Don’t worry.

We were in the stairway that led from the dormitories to the main floor. I perched on a step halfway down. Just below, on the small landing, Emily played with an elaborate set of paper dolls. Murky oil landscapes lined the walls above us, each painting framed in blackened wood. It was just after four in the afternoon, and most of the other girls were off finishing their schoolwork or outside. Emily and I had the stairway to ourselves.

Does Greta give you the willies? Emily asked.

She certainly did. Emily dragged her everywhere she could, and it always felt like the doll’s black button eyes watched my every move. Poor Anna. I would be tempted to yank Greta’s eyes out too, if I had to share a room with her.

Greta’s a perfectly lovely doll, I said. I’ll talk to Anna and make sure she takes more care with your toys.

Cheered, Emily returned her attention to the paper dolls. Her brown hair was set in

Reviews for A Death-Struck Year

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this while we were in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, and this one hit close to home. Interesting to read about Cleo's experiences during the influenza outbreak in Portland. She leaves her boarding school after the city closes down and she ends up home alone. She answers the call from the Red Cross and is soon doing wellness checks, helping at make-shift hospital. There's a love story, questions about what she'll do when she grows up, and the tension of pretending she's not home alone to her brother (guardian) who has traveled out of town.

[dara85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I swore in the year 2020 with the pandemic going on the last thing I would read was a book about a pandemic. I participate every in year in a To Be Read Challenge where I choose 24 books of my to be read books to read the following year. I chose this one back at the end of last year, because it had been on my list for a while. I actually never looked at it again, until I checked it out at the library. Here I am reading a book about the Spanish Flu in 1919, in the middle of a pandemic. Although this a fictional account, many parallels could be drawn to 2020. Everyone was frightened, everyone wore masks, schools were closed and neighbors stayed away from each other. This was set in Portland, Oregon where over 45,000 died from the flu. It is an interesting read for teens and adults.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cleo Berry lives in Portland Oregon and she has heard about the Spanish Flu, first recorded in Kansas in an Army Camp, there are a variety of causes attributed to it (and apparentlly Ireland was pretty badly hit, or so I found during some quick checking, and I have to stop checking and wondering how my Grandfather managed not to get it, and not die). Young people are dying, often very quickly and without any real notice of sickness and she feels drawn to help. There she finds an interest in people, even if they keep dying on her.The romance was sweet but I didn't really feel it.It's interesting but I wanted more. Kept me up reading though.

[sarah_gruwell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book surprised me, actually. It started out a bit slow, enough that I considered initially dropping it. But once the story got rolling, it was like a boulder going down a mountainside. The stakes got higher and higher as time went on and the horrible world of a pandemic sweeping society kept me on the edge of my seat. I'm so glad I kept with it!The real treat in this novel is the main character. We get to see some real growth in her as a maturing woman who can't stop doing what she sees as right. I can see why the slow part in the beginning, illustrating her time in school and establishing her as a teenager, was necessary. It just makes the stark changes in her world and character all the more vivid as Cleo joins the Red Cross and does her part for stricken Portland.The historical details were something else. From snippets on Victorian society to the devastating effects the illness had on daily life as well as one's trust in family and neighbors in such circumstances, this scary world was amazingly vivid. I enjoyed how the author showed us the effects the disease had on society as a whole and the intimate details on whole families wiped out or the effect lone survivors had while everyone else was sick.The only thing I wished the author might have devoted more time on was Edmund's and Cleo's relationship. For a book being touted as a "romance", this book had a very lack luster one. As more than one of my fellow reviewers have pointed out, it's more a strong friend connection with perks than a timeless and all encompassing love connection. I could have wished for more development in that arena.But as a whole, this book was a wonderful read. Full of wonderful historical details and with a main character that I grew to love as she matured, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a touching and horrifying portrayal of Spanish Flu-gripped America.

[lyssa73 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.5/5

Solid, middle of the line effort. I really liked the first few chapters, especially the bantering in Latin. I enjoyed the setup of scenery and characters. For a book that only covered about a month in total and spent about 20-40 pages on any particular day, it moved fast enough. It was engaging, kept my interest, and was easy to finish.

Some major things got in the way for me though:

*The romance. I love a good love story. I have never said this before and I hope to never say it again, but when Edmund was introduced and Cleo reacted, I could feel my eyes rolling and my lips mumbling "oh come on!" of their own accord. It would have gone down better if one of three things happened. 1. Edmund died. 2. In the panic and desperation of the epidemic/war, they had a quickie wedding or one night stand and had to work through the muck of the aftermath. 3. The book followed up with them both years down the road and showed that it amounted to nothing, that the romance that flared between them was sparked by the circumstances. It was special, but incapsulated in that time, never to be fanned to life again.

As it was, none of those things happened. Edmund was a perfect gentleman with no faults and everything going for him. He was immediately taken with her and promptly took up the role of solicitous fiance, making arrangements on her behalf and putting her best interests ahead of his own. The humor about the birth control pamphlet (fascinaing!) had me chuckling to myself, but nothing even came of that, despite being built up so much.

*Cleo herself. It was interesting to read about the spanish flu through the eyes of a 17 year old orphan of priviledge (strange indeed). But then Cleo morphed into a superhero, saving men, women, and children, scaring away burglers with a withering stare and idle threat, digging graves, and rescuing the nearly departed from the mortuary. Cleo's only faults, lying to her family and being reckless with her own health/safety, were not faults so much as "the indirect boast" (Jane Austen) because they were done for the benefit of others. I couldn't relate to her and she got on my nerves. Even when she made stupid, rash decisions that likely would have had serious consequences in real life, everything worked out.

*The death toll. While there were occasionally deaths, Cleo saved many more lives than were taken. Of her family and the primary characters, only one died. Doing the math from the historical notes, it seemed that only 1 in 15 died of the spanish flu (at least in Portland... really a 7% mortality rate? That can't be right... ) so I guess the lack of immediate characters succumbing wasn't inaccurate. But still, no one personally connected with her went down, with the exception of Margaret (we only meet her briefly in the beginning) and Kate (whom Cleo only knew for a few weeks and didn't even start to learn anything personal about her until just a few days before she died). Even the patients that were brought in- those who died got a passing line and those who slowly regained health were checked up on throughout the whole book. With the focus on life over death, it gave the impression that the spanish flu actually wasn't that bad. Which brought me to...

*The point. What was the point of the story? It was not a death-struck year, but a flu-ridden month. It seemed to me that Cleo was altered more by her personal tragedy as a child than by the events of either the war or the spanish flu.

[amym53 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book from first reads for a honest review. I loved the character of Cleo she showed a lot of maturity, strength and kind heartedness. "You wonder why I stay" I said."Sometimes I wonder too. But I hate to think of a child , of anyone really, lying somewhere sick and scared , waiting for help that does not come." This is my favorite quote and says a lot about Cleo's personality and what she has been through. I thought it was interesting that Cleo was reading a book in the beginning about famous american women and wondering what achievement or career she could have so that she would be influential woman . I think having the unselfish kind heart to help out the red cross during an epidemic even if it may seem in a small way makes her one of those women .This book also shows that you can tell a lot about a person during a crisis. Whether they go out of their way to help a stranger or desert their own family because of their illness. The ending did leave me wondering what is in store for Cleo in the future. Who will she marry? Will she go on to have a career in the medical field?

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While this is not necessarily the best young-adult historical fiction I have read, it does have its merits. The information regarding the flu itself was well-researched and our protagonist, Cleo, is carried strongly throughout the novel. However, at times the book does lull, and reading about very ill young children and worst-case scenarios may make your anxiety shoot up.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: This book was well written and a great novel for lovers of historical fiction. Did tend to get boring at times, but the sweet romance and thought-provoking chapters made up for it.Opening Sentence: In the coming weeks, I would wish I had done things differently.The Review:A Death Struck Year was a great story. It follows Cleo as the Spanish Influenza takes over the world, killing millions. The romance was sweet, the history terrifying. This author knows how to use words to affect you with simple sentences, much like Shannon Hale. I was impressed with the book, though a few times my mind did drift, and I got bored —manly the reason for the three star review. Towards the end, it sped up and many of the key events happened in the last 50 pages. So many deaths were happening between the covers, the descriptions of the flu cases were depressing. It was all very thought-provoking. Though short, this novel was provocative and enjoyable.Cleo is the main character. She’s brave and smart, with a lot of courage she doesn’t see in herself as others do. Her lack of confidence remains there throughout most of the book, but it makes you like her even more with her flaws. I like the way her doubt doesn’t make her turn away from helping at the Red Cross, and how she can find strength in the lives she saves. Her family lives in Portland, with Mrs. Foster (the housekeeper), but her brother and his pregnant wife are away. Cleo is forced to live on her own for awhile — although she doesn’t exactly flourish while cleaning, cooking, and washing the clothes, she is certainly an asset to the Red Cross (even if she can’t see it herself).Edmund, the love interest, was also amazing. I actually wish that I could have more of Edmund, because he’s so sweet and sensitive, yet strong, brave. He doesn’t flinch in the face of danger and is undeniably Cleo’s rock through many a hard night. Not that he isn’t a unique character. I have never known such a blend of quiet manliness until after I read this book. He is more soft-spoken than other love interests, but definitely doesn’t fade into the background. His whole personality was interesting to me and I’m glad I got to meet this character.The setting was well-done. This might not have been a dystopian or fantasy novel, but the world-building was great. It was scary to see as gradually, the city began to sink. When people died, there weren’t enough graves. There were never enough stores that were open because the clerks kept getting sick. The one that really got me, for some reason, was when Cleo and her friend were digging out the peach pits and sending them to the army for their carbon to use in gas masks. This was really intriguing to me, and carried a lot of morbid foreboding: I don’t know why this made me feel so suddenly involved in the story, but it did. Portland was a cool viewpoint as we got to see the influenza spread quickly until it finally reached us, but it was a little dull occasionally when all that was exciting was the newspapers telling us how quickly the sickness was coming.Overall, I was a fan of this book. The three stars was mostly because of the uninteresting parts when I wasn’t feeling hooked or any need to keep reading. Also, though, this genre isn’t my cup of tea, so it’s rare I really like anything from the historical fiction as much as I would dystopian or sci-fi. I’m impressed that I liked it as much as I did, really, so if you do really enjoy this kind of novel than check it out. If not you might not feel as fond about it, but I’m sure you will still adore Cleo and Edmund. I know I did. This has an awesome setting, a semi-exciting plot, and provokes a lot of emotion. Try it out!Notable Scene:“You don’t believe that, do you?” Bitterness crept into Margaret’s tone. “How long have they been saying that? The war will be over by Thanksgiving. Our boys will be home by Christmas.” She flung a pit into the bucket so hard it thunged against the metal. “The newspapers say a lot of things, Cleo.”FTC Advisory: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers provided me with a copy of A Death Struck Year. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[livvvy75 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Trust me, it says something about a book when I can read it on a phone. This is the only book I have ever stuck out reading on my phone. So if minuscule text can keep my interest, surely that says something good.Before starting A Death-Struck Year, I knew next to nothing about the Spanish Influenza. And I call myself a history nerd. So yeah, I learnt a LOT while reading this book and I enjoyed every minute of it.This was one ride of a book. As you will see in the progress/status updates at the bottom of my Goodreads review. You will see that I thought that I nearly threw up my heart at one point. Lovely, eh? I was just stunned. It was horrible and shocking and I felt sick to the stomach for the characters.Cleo was such a great main character because she was somehow likeable, even though she was stubborn and rather foolish. Somehow this only endeared her to me. She was brave and loyal, unafraid to stand up for what she believed was right. Even if she didn’t always choose the right path to achieve this.The reason I’m docking off half a star is because at not one point in the book, was I a fan of the relationship between Edmund and Cleo. I just never really felt it. If you have read the book, hopefully you understand why I’m only leaving off half a star.I was reading everywhere I could – and probably shouldn’t have.I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction and to people with interest in the earlier nineteenth century. Or even if you just want a good book. 4.5/5 cometsKABOOM! That onnly leaves one little continent. One little flaw.

[janarose1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When the Spanish influenza strikes, Cleo risks her life to join the Red Cross and help plague victims. While her brother/guardian is away, she leaves boarding school and strikes out on her own.I thought this was a well written and engaging book. I found myself reading the book in one sitting. The characters were very realistic and the setting just heartbreaking. I would love to read a sequel and find out what happens to the characters. Overall, highly recommended.

[carebear36 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was such an amazing book! I won a ARC of it and ended up finishing it within a few days of receiving it, because I just could not put it down. This is a quick-read and a beautiful work of historical fiction. It has something for everyone; suspense, romance, philosophy, drama. A very-well rounded and intriguing story. Lucier even includes a short blurb about Spanish Influenza at the end and how it connects to her own writing, which adds to her story. Having not known much about Spanish Influenza before reading this book, I found her writing very informative as well as creative. This is a great story which delves into human nature during times of struggle. Her contrasts between fear, compassion, empathy, and selfishness were absolutely stunning. This has definitely become one of my favorite books and I would recommend it to anyone. Truly amazing!

[bonniemarjorie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It’s 1918 in Portland, Oregon and 17-year-old Cleo Berry is living temporarily in the dormitory of her school when her guardians, her older brother and his wife, leave on vacation to celebrate their anniversary. Soon after their departure the news everyone has been dreading arrives: the Spanish influenza has made its way to the west coast. After her school is shut down, Cleo decides to sneak back home to wait for her brother to get back to town. She inevitably decides to assist the Red Cross after a newspaper advertisement shows them asking for volunteers, preferably those with transportation.There were a few things that initially drew me to this book. One: This reminded me a lot of In the Shadow of Blackbirds which I enjoyed immensely. I had never read anything about the 1918 Spanish influenza but I was riveted by the details of that time period. Two: I loved the idea of this girl volunteering to assist in something so dreadful. I knew she had to be an amazing main character to persevere through something like that. Unfortunately, what I found most intriguing about this book didn’t pan out for me.The details regarding the Spanish influenza were detailed and clearly well-researched but the story as a whole managed to lack an emotional intensity especially when you consider the devastation going on. The story is told from the point of view of Cleo and she gives us a firsthand account of her day to day life while the influenza spreads through Portland like wildfire. We’re witnesses to the deaths of men, women and children but there was a seemingly unintentional disconnect like Cleo wasn’t truly living in the moment but as if we’re being giving a secondhand accounting instead. It all felt very subdued and didn’t generate the type of emotion I think I should have been feeling given the subject matter. In addition to the lack of emotion, I missed the lack of effect the war was having on the states. There was only brief references to the war going on and soldiers coming home but the people didn’t seem to be effected by hardship due to rations or anything of the sort. I realize that by 1918 we’re at the tail end of the war but it still had a serious impact on peoples way of life for many more months.As I stated above, I loved the idea of this young girl deciding to assist in helping the Red Cross during this tragedy when she didn’t have to. I loved the idea of this experience having a maturing effect on her and causing a form of transformation. But after about the fifth time she mentioned she had forgotten her mask after walking into a house stock full of sick people I had just about had enough. Putting on your mask to help prevent against the flu isn’t difficult. You’re nursing people that are hacking up a lung and bleeding all over the place and you’re like, “Oops! I left it in the car.” Seriously?!Every time this would happen it only succeeded in completely enraging me and throwing off the flow of the story. She kept saying throughout the story that she’s not a child and that she can take care of herself when in fact her actions told a completely different story. Cleo could have been an amazing character for me but her complete disregard for her own health was ridiculous and only proved to me that maybe she should have stayed home.The budding romance, as the summary describes it, is a perfect description. We don’t ever get to witness the bud come to fruition and bloom, we only receive the hints of it. But the ‘budding’ itself between Cleo and Edmund wasn’t anything to get excited about and there really was zero chemistry between the two. I honestly don’t see the reason or purpose for it being a part of the story.As much as I wanted to love this one, I wasn’t impressed. The story was well written and the research was evident but the the lack of characterization completely killed the story for me. When writing about something as devastating as the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic then I would expect to be completely enshrouded in the desolation of the event and I wasn’t.

[pencilstubs-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Seventeen year-old Cleo’s guardians (her older brother and his wife) are traveling when the Spanish Influenza strikes her hometown. Schools close, neighbors become wary of each other, hospitals overflow, and cemeteries have to set up a waiting list for burials because there’s few left who are able and willing to dig graves. With no one home to stop her from risking infection—and thus her life—Cleo joins the Red Cross. When she’s not trekking door-to-door to hand out masks and pamphlets and to check houses for unconscious, near-death influenza victims, she’s assisting nurses in a make-shift hospital. One of the things that make this an excellent young adult novel is that it addresses not knowing what to do with the rest of your life, an anxiety-inducing uncertainty for many teens today. At the beginning of the novel, Cleo agonizes over her lack of ambition compared to her friends. She knows she wants to go to university, but she’s not sure what she wants to study. She has no plans, no dreams, no calling. Her brother assures her that not everyone leaves high school knowing their life’s purpose, and people often change their minds about what they want to do throughout their life. Sometimes you just need to venture out in the world and live a little before you can figure your future out.When the Spanish Influenza hits, Cleo finds an ambition—rescuing flu victims who have become incapacitated and can’t get help for themselves. She does this for reasons related to her parents’ death and because she finds that saving even just a few lives is such a wonderful, significant thing. Once the influenza outbreak is over, Cleo still doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, but it doesn’t bother her as much. She’d done something meaningful that made her grow and mature. Sometimes you just need to take life one step at a time, do meaningful things that will help you grow, and not worry so much about having rock-hard plans.Overall, this novel was a great read. Cleo is an engaging, sympathetic, imperfect narrator and the supporting characters are likable and fleshed out. The writing is smooth, succinct, vivid and tugs the reader forward at a brisk pace with a few heart-skipping moments. There’s a little romance in the second half, but it’s very much an underlying part of the story and won’t diminish it for any romance-haters (like myself). The Spanish Influenza setting makes for a horrific yet inspiring look at what a disease outbreak can do to a town of people. Many die, families are devastated, and some rob stores or shun anyone who might be carrying germs, but there’s also selfless, brave people who step up to help those in need. It was interesting to see what life was like during this specific time period. I’d recommend this book for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and coming-of-age novels. Note: I received an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let me begin by saying I don’t know if I’m ordering this novel or not. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read so far this year, however I’m trying to decide if it’s more suited for high school.The novel begins on September 21, 1918 and ends January 17, 1919, although most of the novel takes place in September and October of 1918. Cleo is a student at a private school in Portland, Oregon. She commutes to school, living with her brother and his wife, Jack and Lucy. The Spanish Flu has been killing people in Europe and on the east coast. They feel safe living in the west. Cleo agrees to stay in the dorm at her school while Jack and Lucy take a trip to San Francisco. After her brother departs, the flu hits Portland. The town basically shuts down in an attempt to stop the spread of the flu. Cleo sneaks out of her school to go home, not understanding the dangers of exposure. She volunteers at the Red Cross helping to find victims of the flu. The images and reality of how sudden and devastating the flu was hits the reader with ferocity. Life completely changes. Cleo goes from house to house looking for victims and drives them to the makeshift hospitals. She meets others who are willing to jeopardize their lives instead of living in fear. A soldier doctor becomes one of her closest friends, as they both fear losing each other, their co-workers, and their own families.Ms. Lucier gives a haunting and heartbreaking look at a historical event that affected the entire world. It was one of the worst flu outbreaks in history where 30 – 50 million people are estimated to have died. The novel is a page-turner with interesting characters and suspense that keeps the reader up late at night reading. I highly recommend this novel; if I don’t order it, you should definitely go by the public library and check it out.