Patricia Hermes (1936–2018)

Reviewed by Steph for TeensReadToo.com

SALEM WITCH: MY SIDE OF THE STORY is told from two different perspectives.

Elizabeth is a young girl living in Boston who unfortunately angers the wrong people: her cousin and her cousin's friends. Suddenly, Elizabeth finds herself being accused of being a witch! And this isn't good news since the town of Boston recently hung a few accused "witches."

Can Elizabeth prove her innocence before she is hanged? What will happen if no one believes that she's show more innocent of these charges?

George is the son of a very prominent Bostonian. He is around for all of these witch accusations and becomes increasingly afraid of the horrors happening throughout the town. When his best friend, Elizabeth, is accused of being a witch, George knows this witch business might not be truly legit.

Can George save his friend from the horrors of being named a witch? Or will George stick to his family ties, mainly his father, and persecute all women accused of being a witch?

Patricia Hermes writes about an interesting and controversial historical event through the eyes of two youngsters. Her ability to tell this gruesome story through a shield of innocence is amazing. Overall, this book is a good read that is both entertaining and informational. show less

The author can write. The writing is fine. I just don't understand the point to this story. The children have been abandoned by both parents. The eldest is in high school. He works a job and goes to school and does his best to care for his younger sisters. The protagonist is the middle child, who is about 11 years old. She opens the story with how much she loves her little sister and so of course just as we grow to love the little sister also, she grows ill and dies. Sure, I think it's show more nice to show young ones the hard realities of life. But there is a difference between showing personal maturation during struggle against odds and just drowning the reader in depressing melodrama. This is exactly the sort of book that if I'd read as the thrown-away preteen I was, would have made me distrust all adults even more than I did. Thank goodness I was reading things like 'Where the Lilies Bloom' and Judie Angell's wonderful 'Dear Lola' instead. show less

My daughter has a reading assignment for school in which an adult recommends a book, and both the adult and child read the book an reflect on their thoughts. I've held onto this old yellowed paperback for years because it held sentimental value to me. This was the first book that ever made me cry.

Re-reading this as an adult (and decades after it was written) it's interesting that while some elements are timeless (the pain of losing a parent), other parts of the book are very dated (making show more fun of an overweight classmate, for example).

This is a book written for middle grades, so it's unfair to judge it by adult standards. What resonated strongly with me in 5th grade, seems clunky and unemotional now. My daughter and I haven't had the book discussion yet, but in quickly asking her about it, the book didn't move her as much as it did for me when I was her age. show less

Summary: This children's chapter book is book three of a voyage series featuring Joshua and family on the Oregon Trail. Written from Joshua's point of view this book focuses on his adventures in Willamette Valley and his hope of attending school. It captures the essence of his life in 1849 and the struggles and hardships he faces growing up on the dust trail.

Argument: There are many reasons why I enjoyed this children's chapter book and why I would recommend it for teachers to have in their show more classrooms in elementary schools. First, I love the formatting and structure of this chapter book. I enjoyed reading it like a diary and witnessing the narrator's first hand thoughts and ideas as he has them. Young readers will love opening up this book and seeing the text not separated by chapters but actual dates and times like a journal. Secondly, I enjoyed this book for its male perspective and point of view. I think it is very rare to find children's books where the main character/narrator is a male. It is important for young boys and girls to read male perspective books to connect with them and learn about the opposite gender. Lastly, I enjoyed this book for its information and historical note with real photographs in the back of the book. For example, in this section there is information on President James K. Polk with an actual photograph of a map of the Oregon Trail. This section truly helps children connect what they just read to actual facts and historical accounts. It brings them deeper into the time period and opens them up to new perspectives and ideas.
The main message or theme of this chapter book is to inform students of what life was like on the Oregon Trail and the adventures and hardships families faced trying to make a living and survive off the land. Through the eyes of one young boy, readers are able to take a look into the past and connect with the individuals of that time period. show less