The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History

by Jane Yolen, Heidi E.Y. Stemple Narrated by Jessica Almasy

Overview

During the long, cold winter of 1692, seven young ladies from Salem, Massachusetts, begin to display disturbing symptoms. They're convulsing, contorting, cowering, and croaking strange sounds. Finding no help from medical books, the village doctor declares them bewitched.
Having already triggered more than 60,000 executions in Europe, the fear of witchcraft begins its work-even among sensible, down-to-earth New Englanders. And before it's all over, 141 people are arrested-19 women are hanged, one man is crushed to death, and four others die in jail. But long after the damning “testimony” of ghosts-seen and heard only by the “bewitched”-was forever banned from courts, one question remains: What really happened?
Jane Yolen-whose hundreds of books have garnered numerous accolades, including Golden Kite and Nebula Awards-teams up with her private detective daughter Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple to craft this Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winner. Jessica Almasy's stellar narration adds luster to a baffling episode in U.S. history.
“This [book] effectively introduces an intriguing subject, and the mystery of what really happened is more than enough to whet kids' appetites.”-Booklist
“This is an innovative way to involve young people in the study of history.”-Children's Literature
“The investigative approach ¿ encourages readers to evaluate the evidence ¿”-Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Yolen and her daughter outline the basic events that gripped this community while boxed text, drawn to look like pages from an investigator's notebook, add context. Smaller sidebars define some of the terms used. The book concludes with a presentation of some of the extant theories of what caused the girls' hysteria and the reactions of the other townspeople, with questions for readers, based on the text, that may support or attack each theory. Roth's graphite-and-watercolor illustrations, done in somber tones, convey the bleakness of the Colonial winter and the drama of the unfolding events. There have been a number of books for this audience covering the Salem witch trials, Edward Dolan's (Benchmark, 2001), Tamra Orr's (Blackbirch, 2004), and Stephen Currie's (KidHaven, 2002), among them. While these titles cover the facts more completely and may be better suited for reports, the investigative approach used here gives a different perspective and encourages readers to evaluate the evidence and draw their own conclusions.-Elaine Fort Weischedel, Millbury Public Library, MA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In the fourth offering in the Unsolved Mystery from History series, the curious little girl invites readers to 1692 and Salem, Massachusetts, to examine the hysteria of the witch-hunts. An extremely simple narrative about the Parris family, their slave, Tituba, and the fear and frenzy that surrounded them is augmented by the young sleuth's rather grown-up spiral-notebook asides. Definitions specific to this particular inquiry are offered on multicolored Post-it notes that seem to be laid atop Roth's grim watercolor-and-pencil illustrations. Finally, the authors offer five hypothetical causes for the terror of the Salem Witch Trials (ranging from ridiculous to reasonable), but none is identified as "correct." Rather, they suggest that the reader may have developed a theory of his or her own. Web sites mentioned are viable but aimed at older readers, and the bibliography is meant for adults. While this may have lots of appeal for the nascent investigator, it may be less than satisfying for young historians, who will wonder how Yolen and Stemple know what they say they know. (Picture book. 7-10)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170963867
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	03/15/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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