(4) 4-6 Based on Demos's nonfiction adult book, The Unredeemed Captive, this fictionalized version focuses on real-life Massachusetts Puritan seven-year-old Eunice. Kidnapped in a 1704 French and Indian raid and taken to Canada, she's renamed Gannenstenhawi, adjusts to her new life, and eventually marries a Mohawk man. Despite being occasionally awkward in the transition to fiction, the text is well researched and fast paced. Bib.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) YA W.A.R.P. series. Shot through a wormhole to Puritan England, Victorian magician Riley and twentieth-century FBI agent Chevie struggle to save each other while Riley's former master, Garrick, tries to revenge himself on Riley by burning Chevie as a witch and destroying life on earth via the wormhole. This entertaining third W.A.R.P. volume alternates humor with mild romance and rousing action.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) 4-6 Schanzer (How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark) turns her attention to the Salem Witch Trials to powerful effect. Her small book, complete with scratchboard illustrations and vivid red accents, recounts the horrors of the witch-hunting hysteria. Good organization and effective illustrations are helpful for keeping the complex material manageable for the audience. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) YA The 1704 raid of Deerfield, Massachusetts, resulted in the capture of many of its inhabitants to repopulate native settlements decimated by European illnesses and battles. This imagined account of the kidnapping of Eunice Williams (a real person) and her subsequent life with the Canienga (Mohawk) tribe in Canada thoughtfully explores her transformation from Puritan girl to respected Caniengan woman.

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(4) 4-6 Historical Fiction Adventures series. In 1866 Lee Chin works on the transcontinental railroad, earning money to free his sister from bondage in China (Iron). In Nazi-occupied Poland, the title character escapes the Warsaw ghetto (Simon's). Sarah Wright attempts to exonerate her father, accused of witchcraft (Devil's). The character-driven narratives can be choppy. "The Real History Behind the Story" is appended to each. Reading lists, websites. Review covers these Historical Fiction Adventures titles: The Iron Dragon, Simon's Escape, and The Devil's Door.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(4) YA Courtney's family moves to a Colonial-era home next to a cemetery. She meets an odd father and daughter who draw her into a supernatural mystery involving their ancestors, a witch, and some ivy. The story includes interesting historical information (e.g., details about Puritan funeral rites), but the incorporation of facts can be awkward.

Reviewer: Jane Kohuth

(3) YA Gypsy teens Emilia and Luka are on a quest to rescue their relatives who have been unjustly imprisoned and sentenced to death. In order to save them, they must recover five magical charms, facing great peril along the way. Set in England during Cromwell's rule, this fast-paced novel manages to be rich in historical details without being overwhelmed by them.

Reviewer: Aimee Chevrette Bear

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Michael Dooling. The story of Anne Hutchinson and her family in 1630s America is told through her youngest child Susanna's eyes. Anne disagrees with Puritan dogma and holds political meetings in her home. As a result, she's exiled from the colony, and the family eventually helps settle what becomes New York. Somber paintings add depth to this story based on historical accounts.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(1) YA In 1645 England, Grace, a Puritan minister's selfish older daughter, is with child from trysts with the blacksmith's son. Nell, the cunning woman's granddaughter, refuses to help Grace end her pregnancy; so begins Grace's deceit--staying abed, spitting pins, crying out about imps and crows--ending in tragedy. Hearn straddles the line between the supernatural and the concrete realm of human passions and weaknesses.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2005

(2) YA Picking up where Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado leaves off, this grand-scale narrative charts a parallel history between seventeenth-century Great Britain and colonial New England, as represented by emblematic figures Oliver Cromwell and John Winthrop. Aronson keeps the reader engaged with intriguing anecdotes and cogent analysis. Archival maps and images expand upon the demanding text. Timeline. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2004

(4) 4-6 Events That Shaped America series. Each book in this series gives a brief overview of an event that had a lasting and profound effect on U.S. history. The books vary in quality--some more informative and interesting than others--but all are sketchy, lacking in detail. Sidebars, boxed quotes, photographs, and drawings enhance the texts. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Events That Shaped America titles: The Atom Bomb Project, The Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention, The Writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", The Oregon Trail, The Salem Witch Trials, and The Scottsboro Case.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) 4-6 Dear America series. This is an engaging fictional account of real events. Deliverance, a pious twelve-year-old girl, recounts events during the Salem witch hunts of 1692. Her friendship with a woman who is later persecuted as a witch and the unfounded claims of the accusers cause the young girl to rethink her beliefs. An illustrated historical note is appended.

Reviewer: Lauren Rizzuto

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Roger Roth. Children are encouraged to use their own reasoning powers to interpret the Salem witch trials of 1692. Each page includes historic information, the young detective-narrator's "notes" about the events, and important vocabulary words. The subdued palette of the illustrations reinforces the mystery's somber tone, and the careful detailing supports the book's interest in historical fact. Websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) 4-6 A motherless girl in Puritan Boston, Hannah finds herself drawn to the teachings of the Quaker heretic Mary Dyer, who is persecuted by the town fathers for speaking her conscience and eventually hanged on Boston Common. Ignore the cheap book design: this story features a compelling protagonist and a thoroughly researched and clearly evoked historical period. Bib.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) YA In 1704, the Mohawk attacked the Puritan settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, taking eleven-year-old Mercy Carter and over one hundred other settlers captive--forcing them to trudge three hundred miles to Canada. Cooney constructs a suspenseful story for Mercy, who must decide whether to remember her former life and family or to "set them down" and embrace her new life as a Mohawk.

Reviewer: Mary R. Holt

(4) YA Oxford Portraits series. The author has drawn much of his information from Williams's own writings in this biography that is very academic and a bit tedious at times. The volume goes beyond its subject's life and delves into greater issues of the times: religious freedom, tensions between Native Americans and the colonies, and the colonies' dependence on England. Black-and-white photos and archival drawings accompany the text. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(2) YA Mary, a young witch, fears for her own life after her grandmother and mentor is hanged. Luckily, she is rescued and whisked away to America disguised as a Puritan--all under the protective, often invisible gaze of other witches. In the expertly written, potent novel, persecution catches up with Mary in the New World, and her narrative ends dramatically mid-sentence--leaving readers eagerly awaiting a sequel.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2001

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Barry Moser. This edition of the Newbery Award-winning novel is illustrated with twelve watercolor paintings. Moser's portraits do a fine job complementing the text, with one jarring exception: an oddly anachronistic portrait of young Kit and her grandfather on the island of Barbados shows a contemporary-looking child in a sundress and a flowered headband.

Reviewer: Terri Schmitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: December, 1958