Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Stephanie Hemphill

Hemphill, Stephanie. Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials. New York, NY: Balzer + Bray, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-06-185328-9.

SUMMARY

Ann, Mercy, and Margaret find themselves caught in a web of deceit that begins when Ann discovers she can manipulate the elders in Salem Village to believe she has visions that reveal the identity of witches in their small community. As she becomes the center of reverable attention, Mercy and Margaret join with her to deceive the community, and soon they become valued for their ability to find and reveal the witches in Salem Village. While innocent people are hung based on the girls' testimonies, the girls enjoy privileges and respect otherwise denied to women and children in their town. Told in verse, each girl's thoughts and motivations are revealed as the lies grow bigger, and as they begin to worry about their own lives should the truth be revealed.

ANALYSIS

The Salem Witch Trials of the late 1600s continue to intrigue people who wonder about the gullibility of the superstitious elders and the motivation of the young girls that brought about the horrific hangings of innocent people.  In The Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials, Stephanie Hemphill explores this mystery in her fictional verse novel. The novel, told in first person from each girl's perspective, creates a believable and credible personality and character for each of the girls. Ann longs for love and attention, both denied by mother and father. The beautiful Mercy, an orphan of the French and Indian Wars, finds herself in the low social status of a servant to Ann's parents, with no hope for a future because of her status. Margaret, Ann's cousin, lives with her stepmother, who demeans her, and her father, who ignores her. However, once the girls begin to achieve a social status based on their visions, the elders begin to use them for their own purposes of "weeding out" villagers in subtle, but pointed ways.

Hemphill's use of free verse poetry allows for a fluid reading, almost as if the reader is reading a novel. The name of the girl whose point of view the poem expresses is written below each title's poem. Some poems do not include a girl's name below the title. These poems transition the reader into the next event of the plot. The dialogue and descriptions flow neatly, yet the words send out strong images of character's hidden emotions and Salem Village's desolate environment. 

The power of Hemphill's verse show as Ann Putnam Jr.'s character develops from an overlooked child to the mastermind behind the plan of the girls' selection of who will be the next witch. Early in the book, the poem "Ann Putnam Sr.," reveals Ann Putnam Jr.'s loneliness: "Mother never questions where/I have been. She notices not my entrance/into the house. But I note each patter of her foot.../'Will you teach me your way/to treadle?' I ask./But Mother hears me not."  As the story develops and Ann gains power, she uses the power to manipulate her mother. The poem, "My Mother," shows Ann's strength when her mother warns her, " ' Defy me never,' Mother says.//And I decide/'tis time Mother/learns to speak kinder/to Mercy and me." The lonely girl, who at one point was a sympathetic character, has become a powerful figure to fear.

Hemphill's poetry is strong and clear. Each poem can evoke feelings of loneliness, fear, dread, or horror as the events of the infamous Salem Witch Trials come alive in Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials.

AWARDS

Best Children's Books of the Year, 2011: Bank Street College of Education, United States

School Library Journal Best Books, 2010: United States

Lost Angeles Time Book Prize, 2010: Finalist Young Adult Literature

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY

While reading the book with your class, have the students volunteer to be characters from the book, and then read that character's lines in the poems during the dialogues and/or read that character's poem. Have students take turns reading different roles. 

Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials. Internet on-line.  Retrieved April 6, 2013 from  http://www.flr.follett.com/search?SID=fc7201583581dc8de0ec27730f351ec3