Wicked Girls

Bibliography
Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Stephanie Hemphill Balzar & Bray
June 2010 ISBN 9781481462730.

Plot Summary
This fiction is a story of three young women who lived in Salem in 1692. Ann Putnam Jr. is the leader of the pack. Her father suggests that witchcraft is what caused a disease that is in their village Ann changes the fate of her world forever. Mercy is a servant in Ann's home who takes advantage of her chance to be safe in the story. Finally, Margaret, who is Ann's cousin, is a woman in love, torn between her beloved and loyalty to her friends. The girls have to make a decision, to tell the truth as the story escalates.

Critical Analysis

The author included accurate historical records minus changing a few names in the story. The story is told from the three perspectives of the girls and this allows us to see deeper into the happenings of the village. Also, this allows the reader to see the social, cultural, and economical struggles of each character. The character of this story anger and frustrated but the story is compelling to read because of that fact. The reader wants to desperately understand how these actions can be so calculating and dark and so you read on only to be boggled even deeper.

The characters seek attention in this story and are not a fear of witchcraft but they perpetuate the hysteria of the village. The adults are equally crazy in this story by encouraging outrageous behavior. Even though this is a fictional story the behaviors may explain what happened during this time. The community broke down very quickly as a result of the hysteria and manipulation.

The story is told in verse and the language the author uses is haunting and draws the reader in.
Readers who enjoy history, witchcraft, and learning about the times of the Salem Witch trials will enjoy Wicked Girls.

Awards & Review Excerpts 
“An excellent supplementary choice for curricular studies of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, this will also find readers outside the classroom, who will savor the accessible, unsettling, piercing lines that connect past and present with timeless conflict and truths.”
— Booklist (starred review)

“In subtle, spare first-person free-verse poems, the author skillfully demonstrates how ordinary people may come to commit monstrous acts. Haunting and still frighteningly relevant.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The verse format is fresh and engaging, distilling the actions of the seven accusing girls into riveting narrative.”
— School Library Journal (starred review)

Connections
In History, students can discuss the scenes and how they affect them. Topics of witchcraft, religion, and God vs. Devil can be explored.

Students can compare this story to The Lottery story and make comparisons on how people's behaviors can contribute to killing humans without remorse.