Witch Child- Celia Rees

Title:Witch Child
Author: Ross, Celia
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2001
ISBN-13: 9780763614218

Genre: Historical Fiction
Reading Level: 760 Lexile
Interest Level: 11+


Readers Annotation: It's the 1600's and the witch trials are in full swing. She is accused of being one. Will she make it?

Plot:
Mary is a witch. She claims the name and the pagan healing beliefs associated with it. Unfortunately, she lives in the middle of the witch trials. In a secret diary she recounts her life thus far including the brutal killing her grandmother faced simply because she was a healer. The people do not understand their life and therefore are afraid. Mary is taken in by a kind soul and protected until she ventures into the woods to find more people like herself. Now, the same person who persecuted her grandmother is after Mary. Will she make it?

Review:
This is a powerful book on a very sad time in our history. Mary is struggling with being who she is and being who the church wants her to be. There is a personal aspect of this story that is left out often when talking about the witch trials. Rees has created a character that people want to care about. She is different, but she is healing and simply because of this she is hunted. For the last 12 years this book has been enjoyed because of the intensity and quickness of the story. I could not put this book down.

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Fever 1793- Laurie Halse Anderson
Other Celia Rees Books