Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem (review)

If you're looking for a starting point to delve into the tragedy of the Salem witch hunts, you can't ask for more than a book that offers up a clear and concise account of the events leading up to and following the trials, provides a host of notes, sources, and further reading, all while maintaining the effortless tone of a seasoned storyteller and accompanied by eye-catching artwork that evokes the menacing terror of the times. Schanzer's latest contribution to the nonfiction field is just that book, and the author easily navigates a large cast of characters and a sea of misinformation as she lays out a straightforward, chronological retelling of the events that focuses squarely on the people who lived it and relies heavily on direct quotes from primary sources. This facts-only approach limits the potential for sensationalism, so readers looking for titillating details of Satanic circles and animal sacrifices may be disappointed, but the author's temperate and even-handed treatment of both the accused and accusers offers a brief but sympathetic look at Puritan life. Where the text avoids conjecture and merely relays objective evidence, the artwork hints at something more; the scratchboard illustrations recall seventeenth-century century woodcuts, and the monochromatic palette maintains an air of gloomy desperation while the occasional splashes of red tip the scales toward sinister, though whether the nature of that evil takes the form of mass hysteria or true devilry is never quite specified. Falling just short of 150 pages, this is sure to be useful in school projects or as a companion to the requisite Crucible unit for students looking for a more compact treatment than Aronson's Witch-Hunt (BCCB 12/03).