Salem Witch Trials--please recommend a novel suitable for 11-13 year old girls.

[ereks mom]

I would like my students to read a novel based on the Salem Witch Trials. I would prefer it to be realistic fiction--something that could have happened during that time. I would like it to be 150-200 pages long, maybe slightly more.. My girls are poor readers, so reading level should be in the range of 5.2 to 6.2. Thanks!

Edited July 6, 2016 by ereks mom

[Kfamily]

Both of my girls liked The Witchcraft of Salem Village...Landmark book by Shirley Jackson....160 pages.

[Guest]

Not about the Salem trials, but along the same vein, The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

 

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-witch-of-blackbird-pond#

Edited July 5, 2016 by Kinsa

[mountains27]

I second the Witch of Blackbird Pond, I just read it recently and enjoyed it. I plan to pass it along to have my kids read it at some point in the future.

[Guest]

We also loved Witch of Blackbird pond!! Dd and I listened to it on Audible a year or so ago. It's a great reading on there too. Dd has since reread the book many times. :)

[ereks mom]

Both of my girls liked The Witchcraft of Salem Village...Landmark book by Shirley Jackson....160 pages.

 

This book isn't a novel, though, is it?

[ereks mom]

Not about the Salem trials, but along the same vein, The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

 

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-witch-of-blackbird-pond#

 

 

I second the Witch of Blackbird Pond, I just read it recently and enjoyed it. I plan to pass it along to have my kids read it at some point in the future.

 

 

We also loved Witch of Blackbird pond!! Dd and I listened to it on Audible a year or so ago. It's a great reading on there too. Dd has since reread the book many times. :)

 

I had this one on the list, but it's a little above the girls' reading level. It's 6.9, so about a grade level above where they are.

[Kfamily]

This book isn't a novel, though, is it?

 

My girls read it, but I think it is typical of Landmark books, which is non-fiction that reads like fiction. Perhaps some of it is fictionalized or dramatized, I'm not sure. So, it may not count as a novel then. We liked The Witch of Blackbird Pond a great deal too, but I didn't suggest it because it exceeded your page count wish. :)

[ereks mom]

Do you know anything about any of these? Would you recommend any of them?
 
Time of the Witches by Anna Myers (reading level 5.3, 208 pages)

The Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble (reading level 5.1, 211 pages)

I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembley, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials (Dear America) by Lisa Rowe Fraustino (reading level 6.4, 243 pages)

Salem Witch by Hermes (reading level 5?, 192 pages)

Beyond The Burning Time by Kathryn Lasky (reading level 5.3, 272 pages)





 

[Bocky]

I've been looking at historical fiction on the Salem witch trials too for dd 12. I chose Ann Rinaldi, A Break with Charity (320 pages) but I see it has a reading level of 6.9. 

 

Of the five you list, I would recommend I Walk in Dread (Dear America). Dd 12 read about half a dozen Dear America books at 10 years old for a co-op class, and we'll be reading more this year as we dig into American history. The series works well for a fifth grade reading level, I think.

[Guest]

This isn't a novel, but just a cute book to pass around that your students might enjoy in case you haven't seen it:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0531210472/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_dLAFxb7V85H8R