Maria and the Plague: A Black Death Survival Story

By Francesca Ficorilli and Natasha Deen

Years of bad weather and natural disasters have choked Italy’s food supply, and the people of Florence are dying of starvation. Breadlines are battlegrounds, and young Maria has to fight for her family’s every loaf. Adding to the misery, the Black Plague is rapidly spreading through the country, killing everyone in its path. Maria has already lost her mother and sister. Will she be strong enough to save the rest of her family before it’s too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781515893585

Francesca Ficorilli

Francesca Ficorilli was born and lives in Rome, Italy. Francesca knew that she wanted to be an artist since she was a child. She was encouraged by ther love for animation and her mother's passion for fine arts, which she passed down to Francesca. After earning a degree in animation, she started workign as a freelance animator and illustrator. She finds inspirations for her illustrations in every corner of the world.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

April 13, 1347

Florence, Italy

The chill from the rainy morning settled on my shoulders as I left my house. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but I needed to get to the grain market. Papa and my seventeen-year-old brother, Paolo, worked as laborers for the wool guild, Arte della Lana. They were counting on me to get bread for the family.

Getting food was hard. The last few years had tested all of us in Florence. Earthquakes, along with the rain, had led to food shortages and forced our family to leave our farm. We moved to Florence two years ago. My family had hoped for a better life in the city. I fought back the tears and tried not to think of last year. That was when Mamma and my newborn sister, Flora, had died. Their bodies just couldn’t keep going with so little food.

I walked faster, hoping to outrun the memory of burying them. But I heard the echo of the priest’s prayers in my ears. Soon I was running from the pain. The mud splashed my legs. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t outrun my broken heart. My tears mixed with the rain. I wiped them away. I reminded myself that I still had Papa, Nonna, Joseph, and my big brother.

As I got closer to the city center, I slowed to catch my breath. The roads were filling with people. I used to love how crowded and lively the streets were. But now people were starving and scared.

The city was trying to help its citizens by rationing bread, but the food shortages made people dangerous. Last week, when I was in line for bread, two people behind me started arguing over who got there first. Their raised voices turned into blows. That’s what it was like now—neighbors fighting. I turned the corner, thinking I would be one of the first in line for the day’s ration. I thought wrong.

The line snaked down the street. People in front of me grumbled. The sound reminded me of the rumble of an empty belly. My stomach growled too, but I ignored the sound. The rain stopped as I got into line. I hoped there would be bread, not just for me, Papa, and Paolo, but also for Joseph and Nonna too.

Nonna was old and sick. The bread would be key to her chance of surviving. I had to get bread so I could share with her and Joseph. I worried Nonna wouldn’t make it through to next spring.

A young girl with partially braided hair, a man with short wavy hair and a woman with her hair tied up stand in a long line of people, in the city, while it rains heavily.

The line moved slowly. I hoped I wouldn’t hear anyone cry out, The bread is gone!

More people joined the line. At twelve years old, I was small for my age. People pushed me, and I pushed back so they wouldn’t take my place. I paid attention to people’s moods. I didn’t want to get caught in any fights.

Maria! Maria Rosso! a voice cried from somewhere behind me.

I turned. Even with the crowd, it was easy to spot Joseph. He was tall, skinny, and had black hair. He ran to me.

Hey! the short man behind me said, shoving Joseph.

A flash of anger went through me. My hands tightened into fists.

Get in the back of the line, said the man. Wait your turn.

I’m not here for bread, Joseph told him.

Good! The man spat next to Joseph’s feet, then shook his fist in Joseph’s face. I haven’t eaten in two days. If you try to push ahead, I’ll stop you.

We watched to see if the man would make more trouble, but he turned away. I slowly exhaled. Joseph stepped toward me.

"If you are here for bread, I told him, you need to get to the back."

Joseph shook his head and whispered, I already have my bread.

I was glad because it meant we wouldn’t need to share my loaf.

Did you talk to your father about getting a job? Joseph asked.

Yes, I said, but Papa said he wants me to stay home. He says the work I do there is important. I kicked at the dirt. "If we were still on

Reviews for Maria and the Plague

[jennybeast · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

For me, this is a weak book in the series -- perhaps because I have read a lot about this time and culture? While the bones of the story are ok, the cultural attitudes of the characters are not particularly believable.

For instance, at the end of the book, Maria, a girl who was raised in extreme poverty in Florence in the mid 1300s has been talking with her guardian about possibly hiring a tutor so that she can pursue her dream of teaching. In the back matter, the author thinks it is likely that she would have learned how to read, but probably not how to figure. This is profoundly disconnected from what we know about literacy in the time period, doubly so for a young woman, triply so for an impoverished young woman. She might have known some arithmetic, as women were more likely to go to the markets to buy food, and you need an understanding of math in order to do that. Also, women were highly unlikely to become teachers.

Add to that the storyline where Maria and her brother are constantly fighting with her father, trying to convince him that they need to move away and that they need to find work -- again, the culture of the time period was directly descended from Roman rule. In Roman times, the father was considered so much the head of the household, that he would not have been questioned even if he killed his children. Legally, they would be considered closer to his possessions than people. That seems foreign and bleak to us now, and I don't mean to imply that no Italian people in the Middle Ages felt love for their families, but there is a strong cultural tradition of not questioning the head of the family that has persisted to recent times, so I find it hard to believe that plot line in the context of the time period.

Also, religion is pretty much not mentioned, outside of the ringing of the bells for the dead. That's a problematic oversight, to put it mildly, given the strong role of religion across Europe in this time period.

Hits all the wrong notes for me.