This is billed as a book for young readers but I learned a lot from this book about the story of the Salem witch trials and mass hysteria that took more than 20 people's lives and ruined the lives of hundreds more. A true story of the victims, accused witches, scheming officials and the power of religion and what we would now call the power of "fake news" to destroy the lives of so many innocent people. This horrible time in US history happened in the Puritan village of Salem Town, Massachusetts in 1692.

A controlled release to "KateKintail" fellow BC'er. Also released for the Spook-tacular October 2017 release challenge http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/545007

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I started this book in October, thinking it would be a quick read for Halloween. It turned into a "little bit at a time" sort of book for me and took me until January to finally finish. That said, I still enjoyed it. It's a source-based accounting of the Salem witch trials, which feels very impartial and fact-based rather than speculative. It shows what happened from the illnesses and hardships those in Salem suffered to their way of explaining their misery by blaming those around them of having pacts with the devil. Whether it started through fear or a joke, accusations of witchcraft and naming witches as scapegoats snowballed out of control.

This book shows how many people were caught up in it and how many lives were ultimately ruined. Not only were people hanged as witches (men and women) but some had their possessions stolen, died in prison, were driven insane by poor prison conditions, or became indentured servants or social outcasts. Given our current political climate, I didn't have a hard time understanding how or why these accusations got out of control.

This was an interesting albeit tragic read.

Taking this to a BCinDC meetup in Rockville so it can find a new home!

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Caught at the BC in DC meetup - placing in my LFL.

3/30/2019 - releasing into the wild as this book didn't get picked up from the LFL.

Released at a LFL in Rockville, MD.