Skip to main content

Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem

By

Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem
by Rosalyn Schanzer
National Geographic, 2011. 144 pgs. Non-fiction.

Rosalyn Schanzer's powerful pictures combine with her chilling text to tell the tale of one of the darkest episodes in American History. Nineteen people were hanged during the Salem Witchcraft Trials, one died from being pressed to death, and from four to seventeen others died in prison. Schanzer tells the stories of each victim in a calm, understated prose that heightens the horror of regular people imprisoned and executed on the basis of Spectral Evidence generally given by hysterical/mentally ill/or malicious children. Irrational fears and grievously misplaced zeal led to misery and tragedy for many families in Puritan New England, and Rosalyn Schanzer's remarkable book tells the tale for young people in an impressive fashion.
Labels:

Comments

Marsha Judkins said…
I am a sucker for non-fiction. This looks like a great book to read in preparation for Halloween--I have put it on my "to read" list. Thanks for the review!
October 10, 2011 at 11:15 PM
Marsha Judkins said…
I read this on Halloween. :) I am sooooo glad I live where and when I do!! This was a very fast, fascinating, thorough, well researched and well written book--I really liked the way that Schanzer told the story. Wow, the 1600s were a horrible time to live in so many ways. I have read several other books on this subject, but still learned a lot from this one. Thanks for letting me know about it.
November 3, 2011 at 3:16 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

By
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Faker

By
Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...
Post a Comment
Read more