Product Description

Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. In a plain meetinghouse a woman stands before her judges. The accusers, girls and young women, are fervent and overexcited. The accused is a poor, unpopular woman who had her first child before she was married. As the trial proceeds the girls begin to wail, tear their clothing, and scream that the woman is hurting them. Some of them expose wounds to the horrified onlookers, holding out the pins that have stabbed them -- pins that appeared as if by magic. Are they acting or are they really tormented by an unseen evil? Whatever the cause, the nightmare has begun: The witch trials will eventually claim twenty-five lives, shatter the community, and forever shape the American social conscience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #320341 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416903154
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-Aronson has produced a legitimate piece of original scholarship that is at the same time an interesting narrative. Examining the events in the Massachusetts of 1692, and immediately discounting much of what readers may already know about the trials, he answers some of the questions they will bring, but raises even more. In the brilliant introduction, the author actively encourages the rethinking of past notions of the events leading up to the accusations and hearings. He sets straight the issue of Tituba's ethnicity, the motives and means of Cotton Mather and his colleagues, and the societal contexts and compulsions of the accusers. These participants are introduced and preliminary events are related, all culminating in the hearings. At this point, some readers may get bogged down in respectable yet monotonous he-said-she-said, while others may feel the copious direct quotes from primary sources are just right. Writing with an unabashed political bent, Aronson draws intrepid parallels between Salem and post-September 11th society (as well as the 1960s), and alternately charming and shocking connections between the 400-year-old participants and classic folk- and fairy-tale characters. In the charge to form one's own deduction about what happened and why, this bold book cautions that while readers' interpretations will vary and are valid, conclusions may not even be possible.
Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 9-up. Was it pagan faith or a trick gone bad? A devious teenager's power play or a rebellion against the strictures of a rigid religious community? Aronson shows off both his talent for historical interpretation and his facility as a nonfiction writer as he reconstructs events surrounding the witch trials of 1692. He isn't shy about injecting his own voice in the mix; he often speaks directly to readers, putting the history into a context that sharp teens can grasp and encouraging them to think about how the events connect to their lives and to contemporary culture and politics. To enrich and clarify the history, he quotes from an extraordinary, well-documented array of sources and recorded testimonies (of accused and accuser alike), producing a dense, wide-angle view of the tragedy that evaluates causative theories ranging from deceit and outright fraud to spoiled food that caused hallucinations. The subject will undoubtedly attract readers, but this is not for those in search of spoon-fed fact; rather, it's for teens who love to debate and to dig into what's between the pages of their history books. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Bernard Rosenthal author of Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 A welcome book for young adults that would also serve regular adults much better than most books about the Salem witch trials. Aronson offers a beautifully written and accurate account of the trials. Teachers should throw away other books they have been using for young adults and turn to this one. -- Review

Customer Reviews

A Worthy Addition to the Field
Witch-Hunt is a solid and fascinating work which encapsulates the facts and theories surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. Aronson begins the book by stating his objective: to correct false information and assumptions that have grown up around the trials (and the events leading up to them). Although this kind of demythologizing does occur, Aronson is more focused on summarizing and comparing the opinions, theories and research of various scholars on why the Salem Witch Trials happened than on battling specific falsehoods.

Aronson leans towards the more rational and psychological explanations for the Salem Witch Trials, but he mentions many others, from the theory that there were truly witches in Salem to the theory that the accusers were entangled in a deliberate conspiracy to defraud their victims.

Aronson's careful presentation of the facts and theories should be applauded, especially his portrayal of the Puritans. Rather than portraying the Puritans as a warped society holding strange beliefs, he works to pull the reader into the Puritan world. The Puritans' beliefs and struggles become real and comprehensible. Aronson demonstrates too that those who spoke out against the trials (and eventually stopped them) were products of the same community and same religious convictions as the accusers.

I highly recommend this book for anyone studying the Salem Witch Trials, before or after reading other material.

Very interesting and thought provoking read
I picked this book out of pure curiosity for I have visited Salem, Mass. before and was interested in learning more. I just finished reading it, and I thought it was wonderful. "Witch Hunt" is extremely indepth and detailed account of speculations about the Salem witch trials in 1692. It is very factual, and allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about what they think happened while it discusses popular viewpoints. Not only does this book broaden your knowledge on the topic, but it draws comparisons to the rebellious 1960s and the aftershocks of September 11, 2001. It includes pictures, and quotes from surviving documents from the time.

Very, very good.

Wonderful! A must read!!
I work at a local library and while checking in some new books I discovered this wonderful read, "Witch Hunt." Aronson provided his readers with new speculations about the Salem Witch Trials instead of giving his own opinion. He mainly asks questions to provoke the reader to also questions about their once believed ideas of what "really happened." Unlike some narratives about the witch trials, Aronson clearly keeps the reader entertained and quickly turning the pages. This narrative is a fast read and provides insight on sifting through the facts and myths of what actually happened in 1692.