What's It All About?
Kit Taylor is an orphan transplant in the Connecticut Colony far from her life on the Caribbean island where she grew up. She joins relatives she hasn't seen in years in their Puritan community where she is expected to follow the rules including attending multiple church services. Feeling out of place, she finds a friend in the old Quaker woman who lives in the meadows. The only problem is that the woman has been deemed a witch by the community and leads to troubles for herself she never saw coming.
What'd I Think?
I had heard of many people reading this novel in school either for pleasure or school assignments but its just one of those that never fell in sync with my younger self's reading schedule. I am sorry that I waited so long to pick it up! The friendship formed between Kit and Hannah as well as the help she gives to young Prudence warmed my heart and had me begging that everything would be okay for them in the end.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars!
What'd They Think?
Horn Book Guide -
(October 01, 2001; 9780395913673)
This edition of the Newbery Award-winning novel is illustrated with twelve watercolor paintings. Moser's portraits do a fine job complementing the text, with one jarring exception: an oddly anachronistic portrait of young Kit and her grandfather on the island of Barbados shows a contemporary-looking child in a sundress and a flowered headband. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal -
(April 01, 2003; 9780807207499)
Gr 5-8-Mary Beth Hurt gives an excellent performance in this reading of the Newbery Award-winning novel by Elizabeth George Speare (HM, 1958). The setting is the Colony of Connecticut in 1687 amid the political and religious conflicts of that day. Sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler unexpectedly arrives at her aunt and uncle's doorstep and is unprepared for the new world which awaits her. Having been raised by her grandfather in Barbados, she doesn't understand the conflict between those loyal to the king and those who defend the Connecticut Charter. Unprepared for the religious intolerance and rigidity of the Puritan community, she is constantly astounding her aunt, uncle, and cousins with her dress, behavior, and ideas. She takes comfort in her secret friendship with the widow, Hannah Tupper, who has been expelled from Massachusetts because she is a Quaker and suspected of being a witch. When a deathly sickness strikes the village, first Hannah and then Kit are accused of being witches. Through these conflicts and experiences, Kit comes to know and accept herself. She learns not to make hasty judgments about people, and that there are always two sides to every conflict. There are several minor plots as well, including three romances, which help to bring this time and place to life. Hurt's use of vocal inflection and expression make this an excellent choice for listening whether as an enrichment to the social studies curriculum or purely for pleasure.-Maureen Cash Moffet, St. Anne's Catholic School, Bristol, VA (c) Copyright 2010.
What Do I Do With It?
This novel could be a tie-in during a unit on early settlers in America. Classes can discuss the different religions presented in the book and why they felt the way they did towards each other. Students can then look up information on other witch trials that actually happened and report what they discover. They could even perform a mock witch trial.
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