Rating: Summary: The Triels of Wiitches Review: In the story The Witch of Blackbird Pond written by Elizabeth George Speare. There is a girl named Kit. Her parents died when she was vary young and so her grandpa raised her. Her grandpa was a wealthy plantshen owner. After her grandpa died all her grandpas' money was lost. So she sailed to America to meat and lives with her aunt. On the way there she met a vary nice boy named Nate. He was the captain's son his mother was on the boat kit and her slept in the same cabin. When She got there they had to make one stop kit went ashore to see what it was alike in America she thought it was a gloomy place. When they were comeing back they brought some more people back with them. On the way were she was going the wind stopped so they were stock there for a little then the wined picked up and they started moving agen. When they got there When they got there she unload 7 bags, every one was stoned about how many bags she had. When she got to her aunts house she told her story and they let her stay. She had to cousins. Finely they gave her chores she thought they were slaves jobs but they did not have eney . She thought the jobs were really hard. She had never done such hard things in her life. After a wile she met a vary wealthy boy. Then she met an old woman that every one thought was a witch but she was not. They met when she was crying in a field and the old women she thought her to her house and helped her with her problems. After a wile she founded out that Nate new her to. After a wile all of the towns teenagers started getting sick and the old women new the remedy. Then the war of 1812 happened.
Rating: Summary: The Witch of Blackbird Pond Review: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear is a great book. It's about a girl named Kit who used to live with her grandfather in the Caribiean Island. Now, since her grandfather died, she's moving to the Connectict Colony to live with her aunt and uncle.On the ship,she meets Nat and John Holbrook. Once she arrives at her uncle's house, she feels like she doesn't fit in because her uncle's family is Puritun and she brought all these fancy clothes.There she makes a few friends including Mercy and Judith her cousins,Prudence a girl who she meets in the meadows, Nat and John Holbrook who she met on the boat, and Hannah, a Quaker. The Townspeople don't like Hannah just because that she keeps to herslf . Then when sickness spreads, the townspeople blame Hannah because she herself was accused of witchcraft. If you want to find out what happens next,read the book to find out. My favorite part was was when Kit met Hannah. I liked that part because it made me feel good that Kit made a friend that she could talk to. I thought that Kit was very brave because even though she made mistakes, she didn't give up. I hope you will enjoy the book.
Rating: Summary: good historical fiction Review: Have you ever read a book that was so good it made you feel you were going back in time? That is how I felt while I was reading this book about a 16 year old girl who has to move to the unfamiliar Connecticut colony to live with her relatives because her father has died and she has nowhere else to go. Everything is so different from her sunny Carribean home where she has lived most of her life. This book takes place in 1687 in a small town in Connecticut called Weathersfield, a stern puritan community. Kit Tyler, the 16 year old, comes to live with her Aunt and Uncle after her father's death. Even after she settles in to her new life, she starts to feel caged like a bird. She is unhappy and unliked by the townspeople because she acts so differently. For example, she wears expensive silk dresses, knows how to swim and becomes friends with the local witch. She meets the local witch, named Hanna, in the meadows, by the swamp, the only place Kit can feel completely free. Her association with Hanna and the fact that Kit is different form the townspeople cause her to be accused of witchcraft. Can she prove to them she is not guity of witchcraft before it is too late? The reason I like the book was because of the strong, action-filled plot. I also liked reading this book because it had portrayed the time period in which it took place accurately. The book seemed very plausible that a town in those days could panic and accuse a stranger of being a witch. I also liked the book because I liked the main character. Kit is someone that I would like to have met because she is independent, and wants to be accepted for being different. One thing I didn't like was the town's atmosphere. The atmosphere was dark, and strict, and loaded with witch hysteria. I would recommend this book to people who like the genre of historical fiction, and particularly the time period of witchcraft. This book would appeal to those in sixth to eighth grade who are studying this time in American history. This book is more for teenage girls than boys given it female main character and narrator. There is also a love story in the subplot that would appeal to those who like romance. If you have read and liked the novel "The Scarlet Letter", this is another good book to read. The climax of the story is when the main character is tried for being a witch. This review is not going to give away the outcome of the trial, but it is a strong finish to a well told story that will not disappoint the reader. I guarantee it! The conclusion will leave you feeling that almost anyone could be found guilty of breaking strict traditions in this stern peritian community where this book takes place. Can Kit escape the town's accusations and find happiness in this cold region, so unlike her native home?
Rating: Summary: Great Book! Review: I think The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a really neat book because it keeps the reader interested in the book and you can't put it down till you are done. The reason I like the book so much is because you don't know what is going to happen next, like when Kathrine(Kit) starts to become homesick for Barbados.
Rating: Summary: Great, thoroughly satisfying book! Review: This is one of the most satisfying books I have read in a long time. It is a great book about learning tolerance and acceptance and should be required reading by all. It educates the reader as to life in colonial Puritan New England. The story is timely even today.
Rating: Summary: "Witch" a rare treat Review: Elizabeth George Speare managed to make one of the drier, duller eras of American history come alive through the eyes of an independent young woman. "Witch of Blackbird Pond" is one of the better historical novels, and one that adults and kids alike can appreciate. Kit Tyler has lived a free and luxurious life in Barbados, with her kindly grandfather. When he dies, however, she finds herself essentially penniless and forced to head to New England to live with her aunt and her family. But Connecticut is very different from the sunny island the "tropical bird" left behind: Bleak, muddy, dreary, and filled with grim Puritans -- including her relatives. Her stern uncle disapproves of Kit's upbringing, her love of books, her flamboyant clothing, and her lack of experience in housework. Kit tries to fit in with the proud, beautiful Judith and quiet crippled Mercy, but she isn't a Puritan and it shows. Her only friend is the sardonic sailer Nat, who alternately irritates and interests her. Then Kit encounters Hannah, a sweet old Quaker woman who lives as an outcast because of her religious beliefs. When rumors of witchcraft start flying, Kit must try to save first Hannah -- and then herself -- from the witch hunters. Without actually time-travelling, nobody can know what it would be like to live among the Puritans. But Speare gives us an approximation -- Kit is smart, witty, tolerant, adventurous and serves as a doormat for no one. She's much closer to a modern teenage girl than to the Puritans, and so her conflicts with her unyielding uncle are very illustrative. Among these are the dislike of non-religious reading, insistence on continuous hard work with only a few interludes of fun, and one memorable scene where Kit tries to give her cousins some of her beautiful clothes -- only to have her uncle explode when he sees them. We also see some demonstrations of how often religious intolerance blinded these people to a person's true nature, giving them a scapegoat for their fear of the unknown. However, it is stressed that while the Puritans were intolerant and rigid, individuals were good underneath it -- such as when Kit's uncle defends her against the witch-hunters. There's a little romance in this book, including a love pentagon worthy of Shakespeare (fortunately matters sort themselves out), and this is one area where Speare stumbles. The love tangles seem a little too contrived. However, she includes a fair number of details on life in New England at that time, but never becomes too engrossed in them that she loses track of the plot. The pace is fairly slow until the witch trials; younger kids may be bored by this, but older ones will not mind so much. Kit is a great heroine -- flawed but always sympathetic, funny and strong, brave and intelligent. Fortunately Speare never falls into the trap of simply transporting a modern girl back in time. Judith, Nat and Hannah are also great supporting characters: Nat is great as the sarcastic but supportive love interest. Hannah is a sweet old woman who is content to live a simple life. And Judith will earn both irritation and liking for her pride and determination. Characters like Mercy and the aunt and uncle are a little less three-dimensional; Mercy never rises from the cliche of the gentle, sweet disabled girl, and the aunt and uncle are a doormat and a tyrant most of the time, although the uncle does rise up with some good moments. Extra love interests William and John are also pretty flat: William is a bit like a brainless puppy panting at Kit's feet, and John is a humorless Biblical scholar. The little girl Prudence and her hideous mother are very good, however, and provide the book with a villain and a young friend for Kit. Don't be put off by the title of "Witch"--this is an insightful, well-written historical novel with an excellent heroine and a tense storyline. One of the few books that deserved its Newbery.
Rating: Summary: A WELL TOLD TALE Review: Awarded the Newbery Medal and named an ALA Notable Children's Book, "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" is obviously an award winner. Another sure to be award winner is film and television actress Mary Beth Hurt who presents an exemplary reading of this story of a courageous young girl facing down the prejudices of Puritan New England. An orphan, Kit Tyler has a sense of foreboding as she views the unforgiving shores of Connecticut Colony where she will make her new home. She does have physical shelter but she is very much alone, yearning for the Caribbean Islands where she once lived. Kit finds release in the meadows where she befriends and is befriended by an old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond. However, Kit's amity with the woman stirs a cauldron of suspicion and recrimination - Kit is accused of witchcraft. This is a well told tale that documents a sad portion of our history. - Gail Cooke
Rating: Summary: One of the best!!! Review: This book is the best! One of my favorites! It's about a sixteen- year-old girl, named Kit, who has to leave her native island of Barbados to live with her aunt, un-welcoming uncle, and her two cousins, Judith and Mercy. In Wethersfield, Conneticut, Kit finds that after a life with slaves to do the work for her, she must learn a lot so that she can be a help to her aunt and uncle. Kit discovers the hardships of the colonial American life, and also discovers how cruel the cases of witchcraft are. After she befriends an old Quaker woman accused of being a witch, Kit herself soon becomes accused of practicing witchcraft. Then Kit is saved by her friends, a young girl named Prudence whom she taught to read, and the son of the captain on the ship she sailed over with. And everything is complicated by the courtship of one William Ashby. I don't want to give away any more than I already have, so read this great book yourself!
Rating: Summary: Excellent! Review: I'm in my 20's but I loved this book.I enjoyed reading it. Even though its fiction,I view it as a small glimpse into what it was like for a girl and outsider back then.I'd recommend it to anyone.
Rating: Summary: don't judge by the title Review: At first I judged this book by it's cover. DON'T DO THIS! This is a really good book. It's about a teenage girl, Kathrine, who meets a Quaker woman and a little girl and they become friends. Then When a bad sickness comes that clames a lot of lives the people blame the Quaker woman, Hannah and Kathrine. Kit leads Hannah to safty with the help of her friend, Nat. Kit is caught and must stand trial. There is no witchcraft or anything in it. It is not a very fast-past book but worth the read. It is a really good book and I would reccomend it to any Christian or non Christian 12 - adult
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