Super Short Summary

In Deborah Hopkinson's The Great Trouble, a 13-year-old orphan named Eel navigates the 1854 cholera epidemic in London. Eel, a mudlark, becomes involved in helping Dr. John Snow track the source of the outbreak to the Broad Street water pump while dealing with his own struggles of poverty, caring for his younger brother, and evading his abusive stepfather. Descriptions of illness, death, poverty, starvation, and child abuse are present throughout the story.