Witch Child

by Celia Rees

Book Overview

The spellbinding diary of a teenage girl who escapes persecution as a witch--only to face new intolerance in a Puritan settlement. Enter the world of young Mary Newbury, a world where simply being different can cost a person her life. Hidden until now in the pages of her diary, Mary's startling story begins in 1659, the year her beloved grandmother is hanged in the public square as a witch. Mary narrowly escapes a similar fate, only to face intolerance...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763618292
• ISBN13: 9780763618292
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.8" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Wonderful!

I seriously couldn’t put this book down I enjoyed it so much! Mary is so intelligent & strong you come to love & admire her quickly. This book was a total pleasure to read & I am excited to read the sequel.

Great suspense!!!!!!

I bought this book thinking it was going to be similar to The Witch of Blackbird Pond. In fifth grade, I read that book for class. While I enjoyed that book, I like this one much better. Witch Child shows you Mary's thoughts, so you feel like you are right next to Mary. Because it is in a diary form, you don't feel like you are an outsider happening to look into someone's life. Instead of knowing the thoughts of everyone, all you know is what Mary would know, and you find out information when Mary finds out. I like history, and I but what I like even better are books that don't have a textbook feeling to them, and this is definetly the latter. Celia Rees put a lot of suspense into this book, so there is never a dull moment. No one else I know has read it, but I hope that boys don't think that it is "girly", and that just because girls like it, it is dumb. This is NOT a girly book, it is a wonderful book about trying to survive during the time of the witch hunts. And, NO, witches were not always women, they were men sometimes, too. What is the best part, I think, is that she can actually see into the future, and only a few close friends who are trying to help her know. She is struggling to keep her secret a secret, because if someone found out, she would be killed imediately. I think that this is one of the best books ever, and I can't wait for the sequal to come out.

Finally an historical witch book where she really is a witch

I am Mary. I am a witch.Mary has travelled to the New World to start a new life after her old one was taken by the Witch hunters noose. Even in the New World Mary will not be safe - especially amongst the strict and forbidding folk in the new town of Beulal. Told in journal form, Mary speaks to you with her own voice - sharing her loves, her dreams, and her fears. A not to be missed novel of witch-craft, persecution - and hope. This book is one of the best books that I have ever read that deals with witches and witchcraft. From the opening pages you are drawn into the world of Mary, a young woman who follows the old ways. Mary would be called a witch, but he powers and beliefs are stronger than that. Mary is a character that has stayed with me for a long time and the sequel "Sorceress" has been taunting me in the local book shop for the past couple of weeks and I can't wait ti read it.This book is nothing like the popular witches in Sabrina or Charmed, it is closer to real Wicca and the thought and research that went into this novel make it one of the best witchcraft books that I have ever read. This book is best read in one sitting so that you don't spend a restless night wondering what happens to Mary next.

A COMPELLING STORY EXPRESSIVELY READ

This compelling and sometimes heartbreaking story is given an indelible reading by British actress Jennifer Ehle. A Tony Award winner for her performance in "The Real Thing, " she also appeared on Broadway with Alan Cumming in "Design For Living." Miss Ehle's expressive voice adds dramatic resonance to an already commanding narrative. Set in 1659, "Witch Child" is the story of young Mary Newbury, the granddaughter of a witch. Mary witnesses the torture and death of her adored grandmother and fears for her future until she is offered sanctuary across the ocean in America. However, upon arrival on these shores Mary discovers that she is among not only strangers, but people who fear and hate. She must disguise herself as a devout Puritan or imperil her life. Celia Rees, who is described as an "aficionado of the supernatural" has recreated a time when being different was not tolerated and brought it to vivid life through the fictional diary of Mary Newbury.

Couldn't have been any better.

Mary was raised in a small English village by an old woman she knew as her grandmother. The year is now 1659, and Mary is fourteen. Suspicion has fallen on her grandmother, a healer, and she ends up being hung for witchcraft. Mary herself is a witch - but has never hurt anyone. She was born with powers she never asked for and does not understand. The villagers plan to turn on Mary next, but she escapes with the aid of a wealthy woman who turns out to be her mother. Her "grandmother" is not her grandmother at all, but her mother's childhood nursemaid. Her mother still will not care for her, but she does provide Mary with a ticket for a ship bound for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Disguising herself as a Puritan, Mary sets out. But trouble and sorrow follow her across the ocean and into the wilderness. Even in the New World, Mary's life is threatened by the powerful leaders of the community, who are prejudiced against anyone who is different. The story was told through the form of diary entries written by Mary. Since there was an open ending, I really hope there is a sequel. Over the course of the book, I came to really care about what happened to Mary, and I'd love to read about what happened to her.