Salem Witch Trials
For my book report I chose to read Salem Witch Trials by Ann Rinaldi. This book was very intense with
a lot of suspense in it. The story is very conflicting but shows a lot of
detail and facts from the 1600’s. Ann Rinaldi used her knowledge and sources
from around her to gather the information that created this amazing book. I
would recommend this book for other people to read.
The book is about a girl named Susanna English, who is the
second child of three. She wants to join a group of girls who meets at
the Reverend’s house every night. "For Mary was seventeen, and Susannah and Elizabeth were both eighteen, and they wouldn't even bother to speak to me since I was only fourteen and not worthy of their favor." (7) She tried so hard to become apart of the group, even though she was so young and they never spoke to her. She would "peer through naked bushes and trees" (7) just to watch what the girls were doing because she wanted to be apart of their group so bad. The
leader of the group, Ann Putnam, sets off false accusations of the people in
Salem so they become imprisoned. She names people that her mother dislikes and
they are to be considered witches. Ann tells Susanna everything she plans to do
and if Susanna tells anyone Susanna’s parents will be named as witches. Later
on in the story, Susanna’s parents are accused of being a witch when Susanna
had not told anyone. "Dear God, have I then housed the Devil's helper under my own roof?" (109) as Ann's uncle, Joseph, as they see his own daughter floating in the air on a stick. This causes Susanna to believe in witches until Susanna ends up marrying a guy named Johnathon, who
convinces Susanna not to believe in witches. He brings her to an accused witch
to show her that there is no such thing. Susanna ends up telling Ann’s uncle
what she has been doing and he puts a stop to it. Lastly, Susanna returns 14
years later to hear Ann apologize for all the people killed, and hung because
of her jokes.
Ann Rinaldi is a young-adult fiction writer. She is the best
known for historical fiction. She has written more than a total of 40 novels
and 8 of them are listed as notable by the ALA. In 2000, Wolf by the Ears was listed as one
of the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last
one hundred years. Ann is also a writer for the Dear America Series. Before she even became a writer she was a
newspaper columnist. Ann is certified to write this work because she has
studied history in order to get the information for her books.
I loved reading
this book because it was very interesting and realistic since it was based on
true events that happened in the 1600’s. The book was written very well. Ann
has a strong vocabulary which allows the reader to understand and comprehend
the book. She based her thoughts and the ideas of people back then into this
book. This made the book even more realistic and I was able to imagine what was
happening in the book in my head because Ann was very good with detail. This
book was defiantly a success. I enjoyed
reading this book and I would look forward to reading more of Ann Rinaldi’s
books in the near future.
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