Wicked Girls

Starred review from July 5, 2010
Hemphill (Your Own, Sylvia) plumbs the psychological underpinnings of the
Salem witch trials in blank verse monologues from three of the main accusers. Two girls, eight and 12, fall violently ill, having seizures and singling out neighbors as witches. Seeing the weight the girls' accusations are given ("All that Betty and Abigail say in fit/ is listened to like it comes from the town council"), Ann, Mercy, and Margaret snatch the opportunity to join in and move to positions of influence as well, targeting those who have harmed them or their families. Neighbors are jailed and even executed based on the girls' testimony, and even as wiser heads question their credibility, the girls turn on each other, fueled by jealousy, peer pressure, blackmail, and the desire to dominate the group. Even those familiar with the historical events will savor the exploration of the underlying motivations, as Hemphill breathes life into those long dead and holds a mirror up to contemporary society. The expressive writing, masterful tension, and parallels to modern group dynamics create a powerful and relevant page-turner. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from June 1, 2010
Grades 7-12 *Starred Review* Hemphill follows her Printz Honor Book Your Own, Sylvia (2007) with another bold verse novel based on historical figures. Here, her voices belong to the afflicted girls of Salem, whose accusations of witchcraft led to the hangings of 19 townspeople in 1692. Once again, Hemphills raw, intimate poetry probes behind the abstract facts and creates characters that pulse with complex emotion. According to an appended authors note, unresolved theories about the causes of the girls behavior range from bread-mold-induced hallucinations to bird flu. In Hemphills story, the girls fake their afflictions, and the books great strength lies in its masterful unveiling of the girls wholly believable motivations: romantic jealousy; boredom; a yearning for friendship, affection, and attention; and most of all, empowerment in a highly constricting and stratified society that left few opportunities for women. Layering the girls voices in interspersed, lyrical poems that slowly build the psychological drama, Hemphill requires patience from her readers. What emerge are richly developed portraits of Puritanical mean girls, and teens will easily recognize the contemporary parallels in the authentic clique dynamics. An excellent supplementary choice for curricular studies of Arthur Millers 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 conflicts and truths.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

Starred review from June 1, 2010

In this superbly wrought fictionalized account of the Salem Witch Trials, Printz Honor winner Hemphill offers a fresh perspective on an oft-told tale by providing lesser-known Salem accusers with a variety of compelling motivations that will resonate deeply with contemporary teens. Twelve-year-old Ann Putnam is starved for her brusque mother's love. Her older cousin Margaret is jealous of anyone her betrothed Isaac's wandering eye falls upon. And 17-year-old pretty, blond servant Mercy Lewis is tired of the surreptitious touches of pious Puritan men. When two other girls in their village fall prey to fits, Ann, Margaret and Mercy recognize the opportunity to be seen in a society that brands them invisible. But as their confidence grows, so does their guilt. They know exactly what they're doing, but the rewards are too sweet to stop: "...our elders shrivel and shrink, / and we girls / grow spine tall." 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. (thumbnail bios, author's note, further reading) (Historical fiction. 12 & up)

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Starred review from August 1, 2010

Gr 9 Up- Wicked Girls weaves a fresh interpretation of the events put forth in Arthur Miller's The Crucible and revisited more recently by Katherine Howe in The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (Voice, 2009). Mercy Lewis, Ann Putnam, and Mary Walcott (in this story, called "Margaret") point their fingers, lift their eyes, and cry "witch" once again. Elderly Goody Nurse appears, Mary Warren (here called "Ruth") recants her accusations, John Proctor is accused and hanged, and Giles Corey is pressed to death. The verse format is fresh and engaging, distilling the actions of the seven accusing girls into riveting narrative. In Hemphill's village of Salem, Mercy Lewis (age 17) and Ann Putnam, Jr. (age 12) vie for control of the group of girls who quickly become swept up by their celebrity. Their accusations become self-serving: the merest look or shudder from one of the "afflicted" means the offender (an inattentive lover; someone who has done a parent wrong) risks being branded a witch or wizard. Eventually, the group fractures and the girls turn on each other, leading to cruelty and death. In the author's note, Hemphill outlines the historical background, with source notes for further reading. As in Your Own, Sylvia (Knopf, 2007), she bases her book in fact, but acknowledges that "certain names and accounts have been changed, amended and altered" in the construction of her novel. Teens may need some encouragement to pick up this book, but it deserves a place in most high school collections.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2010
In this forceful verse novel, Hemphill gives voice to those who writhed, twitched, and shrieked their way to power during the Salem witch trials. Her plausible interpretation of events is a Puritan Mean Girls, with peer pressure driving the accusers. The poems shift among the perspectives of three girls, and Hemphill succeeds in carving out distinct personalities and motivations for each.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2010
"Sure as meat makes a pie, / the villagers be certain / that Satan is among them. / The brisk spoons of girls / ladle fear / into everyone's bowls." In this forceful verse novel, Hemphill (Your Own, Sylvia, rev. 3/07) gives voice to those who writhed, twitched, and shrieked their way to power during the Salem witch trials. Her plausible interpretation of events is a Puritan Mean Girls, with peer pressure and group dynamics driving the young accusers to maintain their histrionic charade, even after they realize their actions' fatal consequences. The poems shift among the perspectives of three girls-Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, and Margaret Walcott-and Hemphill succeeds in carving out distinct personalities and motivations for each. Chillingly, she shows how the girls manipulate-and are manipulated by-their elders. For instance, twelve-year-old Ann's vindictive mother not-so-subtly mentions names of villagers she dislikes to her daughter, suggesting they may be the witches tormenting her. And Ann soon follows her mother's example: "My mother will have to learn / to do as I wish, or perhaps / I shall call her a witch?" An author's note elaborates both on the history of the trials and on the theory, adopted by Hemphill, that the girls knew that the "witches" swinging from the gallows were innocent and the faces they saw in the mirror were guilty.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)