Feel a tickle in your throat? Do you still have that headache? Could you be falling victim to a deadly virus?

From history's earliest days, bacteria and viruses have stalked humans. Stowing on wagons, ships, and airplanes, these diseases traversed the globe, infecting people in city streets and isolated hamlets. Epidemics and Pandemics: Real Tales of Deadly Diseases tells the tale of five of history's most critical contagions and the havoc these diseases wreaked across the globe, including the bubonic plague, yellow fever, smallpox, Spanish influenza, and AIDS. This nonfiction book for early middle schoolers whets their appetites for history by combining real-life horror stories with primary sources and rich language.

• The setting, dialogue, plot, and character in these narrative nonfiction tales are drawn from historical documents and presented in a compelling way to appeal to both avid and reluctant readers.
• This topic helps readers understand the clash between Europeans and native people during colonial expansion and explore the themes of discrimination based on race and sexual orientation.
• Readers will learn of key turning points in world history and be exposed to some basic elements of epidemiology.

Judy Dodge Cummings is a writer and former history teacher from Reedsburg, Wisconsin. She has a MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Teens from Hamline University and is the author of numerous nonfiction books on historical topics. Her other books in the Mayhem and Mystery series are Great Escapes: Real Tales of Harrowing Getaways and Rebels & Revolutions: Real Tales of Radical Change in America.