Anna Myers (1) (1942–)

In Denver, Robin (a.ka. Bird) is in with the cool clique. They wear the same clothes, talk the same way, and pick on the same girls. But when her Mom hears about a cruel prank against a less popular girl, she isn't going to tolerate the Queen Bee behavior. Within 24 hours, she pulls up stakes and moves them both to Prairie Dog, Oklahoma. Bird is positively furious, and she's going get revenge on her hippy artist mother. In fact, revenge is the only thing keeping her going in the remote town. show more How she's going to get it, though, she's not sure yet.
When she goes to register at the local middle school, she's mistaken for the interim school principal. Who is Bird to correct the mistake when a prank like this will really get payback on her mom? Though she won't be able to pull this off forever, Bird's determined to make her mark on the middle school before she's found out. But life in the principal's chair is going to give her quite an unexpected change in perspective. show less

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

Drucilla is an orphan who longs for a family. When the Putnam's of Salem Village take her in, Dru thinks she's found the family she's dreamed of.

But Mistress Putnam's behavior is strange, and when young girls begin to fall ill without explanation, there's talk of witchcraft. Soon the accusations are flying and Dru even makes one of her own. Innocent lives hang in the balance, and Dru must find a way to stop the madness.

Myers does a fantastic job show more of bringing to life the events of the Salem Witch hunts and trials. Seamlessly weaving historical figures with fictional characters, TIME OF THE WITCHES draws the reader in and makes them feel like a participant in one of history's most tragic times.

I absolutely loved this book and have added it to my re-read pile. Dru's story grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go as I discovered more and more about her life and times. Though I studied the Salem Witch trials in high school, I got more from this novel than I did from those weeks of study. Thanks to Myers, I better understand the reasoning behind these girls' accusations.

This book would be great for use in a classroom to introduce Salem's darkest times as it gives the reader not only historical information, but also the human connection lacking in the history books. Bravo, Anna Myers. Bravo. show less

Myers’ novel about the Salem Witch Trials brings a time of mass hysteria to life. Drucilla and Gabe, born on the same day, are raised together when Drucilla’s mother dies in childbirth. They share a special bond, and after Gabe’s parents succumb to smallpox, various villagers bring them up as siblings. When they are twelve, their foster family relocates and the two young people must take positions as servants. Widow Mary Putnam offers Gabe a home. Drucilla is thrilled when the show more Widow’s stepson Thomas offers her a position, but soon realizes that a feud between the two households will keep her and Gabe apart. Thomas’s wife Ann is outwardly beautiful and charming, and Drucilla thinks that rumors of the woman’s maliciousness are unfounded. But the longer Drucilla is in the household, the more Ann’s disturbed personality emerges. Drucilla has been brought in primarily as a companion to Thomas’s and Ann’s daughter, also named Ann, three years Drucilla’s junior. The younger Ann resists Drucilla’s overtures of friendship and shows her own signs of devious behavior. Things come to a head when Ann Senior starts a rumor that forces Reverend Burroughs out of the village. When Reverend Parris and his family move into the parsonage, Drucilla’s mistress is a staunch supporter of the new minister, so young Ann and her friends are regular visitors at the parsonage. They encourage the Reverend’s slave, Tituba, to entertain them with stories of witchcraft and to tell their fortunes. Fearing punishment if the adults discover this ungodly pastime, the girls pretend Tituba has bewitched them. As accusations of witchcraft spread through the village, Drucilla is aghast at how many believe the girls, but she sees how susceptible she herself is to the power of suggestion when she imagines herself being attacked by one of the accused during a trial. Gabe, not realizing that Ann Putnam has threatened Drucilla if she changes her story, sees his friend’s testimony against his neighbor as evidence that she sides with the unscrupulous family. As with Ann Rinaldi’s A Break With Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials (1992), Myers draws heavily from the actual participants in the events. The fictional Drucilla is an engaging protagonist, and her fear of being falsely accused if she speaks out is believable. An afterword listing the more than twenty accused men and women who were hanged on Gallows Hill in 1692 or died by other means rounds out this solid piece of historical fiction. show less

Drucilla and her best friend, Gabe, were born in the same house on the same cold, dark January night in Salem Village. Dru’s mother died giving birth to her, and her father died soon after, leaving Dru to be raised by Gabe’s parents. When Gabe’s parents also died a few years later, the two children, who are as close as siblings, lived together in various foster homes until the year they turn twelve, when they are separated for the first time. Dru goes to live in the home of Thomas and show more Ann Putman, while Gabe goes to live with Mary Putnam, Thomas’s stepmother, whom Ann dislikes because she believes Thomas‘s stepmother and half-brother cheated him out of some of his inheritance. Ann Putnam, Dru’s new adoptive mother, is a very strange and moody woman who at times spreads viscous lies and at other times weeps hysterically. However, Dru pities her because of Ann’s great grief over the loss of several of her newborn babies.

Three years pass, in which Dru and Gabe remain friends despite the feud between their two households, and even begin to develop deeper feelings for each other. Despite Mistress Putnam’s strangeness, and the coldness of the oldest Putnam child, also named Ann, Dru loves caring for the younger Putnam children and is mostly content with her life. But the year 1692 changes all that. Hysteria comes to Salem Village, as young Ann Putnam and several other girls accuse many of the townspeople of being witches. Not wanting to turn her back on her adoptive family, Dru herself is drawn into the hysteria, but when she risks losing Gabe forever, she must find a way to end it all and bring order back to Salem Village.

Time of the Witches is an excellent young adult novel that brings to life the Salem Witch Trials through the eyes of a girl caught in the middle and torn between conflicting loyalties. Anna Myers does an excellent job of showing just how hysteria overcame reason for so many people during the trials, leading them to turn on their neighbors just on the word of a few children. Readers who enjoy young adult historical fiction or who have a particular interest in the Salem Witch Trials are sure to enjoy this novel. show less