Pharmacy Girl: The Great War, Spanish Influenza, and the Truth about Billy Detwiler

Historical fiction can create empathy and understanding of the challenges of the times through fictionalized characters. The characters in PHARMACY GIRL leap out to caution us to follow the guidelines from over 100 years ago. “Wash your hands” and “keep your distance from others” are familiar to all of us today. Follow the characters as some heed the advice, others ignore it and some who are caregivers do the best they can under the circumstances. Although the author wrote this as a middle grade novel it is informative for more mature readers to guide and caution young readers and to be reminded of forgotten lessons. PHARMACY GIRL is based on research and most interestingly on Kate Szegda’s own family’s experiences during the 1918 pandemic. Written and published before the 2020 pandemic we are managing today, it presents the heartache of loss, the heroism of many and finally, life that returns to normal.

Pharmacy Girl should win an award, so masterfully has Kate Szegda drawn compelling characters, crafted action-packed scenes, and blended the story layers.World War I is the ever-present backdrop looming over Highland Park, New Jersey, as residents collect used clothing, buy war bonds, host parades, and sacrifice their sons. Then a more local threat intrudes—Spanish flu. This is no ordinary virus, as entire families sicken and die one by one.Amid all this, in a story that could stand on its own without the historical context, 12-year-old Josie Winslow goes to school, chats with her best friend about their favorite books, raises money for the Liberty Loan, and plans for the upcoming parade. She also works in her father’s pharmacy, operates a paper route, and watches her mischievous younger sister.Josie’s classmate Billy Detwiler is a bully who sneers at the idea of a girl delivering newspapers. He turns her pharmacy position into an epithet, breaks into the store, and steals a gun. But then he needs Josie’s help.Szegda brilliantly ties all the threads together the day of the town’s victory parade. Pharmacy Girl transports you to 1918 in scenes that are alternately funny, interesting, exciting, devastating, and poignant. This historical fiction is fresh, with a strong heroine who is as charming and compelling as any modern-day protagonist. It will capture your heart!

As if facing the challenges of life during wartime isn’t hard enough, 12-year-old Josie must also deal with the threats of a menacing bully and the horror of the Spanish influenza. Pharmacy Girl takes place in 1918—a time that probably seems like ancient history to its intended audience—and author Kate Szegda brings that era to life with countless details: small-town picnics and parades, children enjoying ice cream sodas made with Coca-Cola syrup and served at a soda fountain, as well as less-enjoyable realities like food rationing. Her heroine Josie is a spunky girl who always tries to do her best, whether she's running for class president or delivering newspapers and medicines to her neighbors. Szegda also has surrounded Josie with an appealing cast of supporting characters, creating well-drawn and realistic moments for Josie’s troublesome sister Clementine, her supportive parents, her sensible friend Grace, and even bully Billy Detwiler. A brave girl who wants to do her part to help the soldiers fighting World War I and to support her family and friends fighting the Spanish flu, Josie is a heroine readers will cheer on to the climactic and satisfying moment of crisis when she shows both her resilience and her character.

This poignant book opens a window into the lives of a group of middle grade kids in Highland Park, New Jersey, who went from the pleasures of community picnics and parades to keeping vigil for friends and family stricken by the deadly Spanish Influenza in 1918. This story celebrates close families, tested friendships, and answers the question: Why does Billy Detwiler have it in for spunky, 12-year-old Josie. It's a page-turner that never lets up on the action.

A great view of what kids were like a century ago. Middle school-aged children are shown reacting to US involvement in WWI, and the world-wide influenza pandemic. Josie Winslow is the pharmacy girl of the title, helping out on her father's store, including treating a child with a cinder in his eye and tending the store by herself for short periods at age 14.

Kate's fictional story is historically accurate right down to the streets and locations in Highland Park, NJ. The book gives one a glimpse into what family life was like during a time when WW1 was still raging, the influenza epidemic was spreading, and not much was known about the science regarding infectious disease despite that Josie's father was a pharmacist and who owned a drug store. The description of the drug store brought much nostalgia to me as a similar pharmacy was where me and my HS friends would hang out by the soda fountain. This is a fast and easy read and while aimed at young adults, specifically girls , all generations should enjoy the story.

GOt a copy for my 12 year old granddaughter.. wonderful description of the US during WWII and the draft and the Spanish flu... learned a lot.. and the main character is a charming girl, gutsy and charming.

Pharmacy Girl gives a fascinating glimpse into the life of a girl in 1918-19, with concerns ranging from friendships to school election excitement to the homefront challenges of the Great War to the deadly influenza epidemic. The spunky, likeable heroine, Josie, shows us her world and makes us want to root for her and her family from beginning to end. Upper elementary and middle schoolers should enjoy this book and find it hard to put down!