Wicked Girls

1.    BIBLIOGRAPHY:  Hemphill, Stephanie. 2010. WICKED GIRLS: A NOVEL OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780061853289.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In this verse novel, the thoughts, feelings, and motives of three of the ‘afflicted’ girls from the Salem Witch Trials are revealed through poetry.  Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam Jr. are the girls that the story focuses its attention on.  Ann introduced all the girls to different ‘folk magic’, one of which they read fortunes from cracked eggs.  However, she was not one of the first girls who got sick.  When Abigail and Betty get sick and starts to feel guilty and wonders if the Devil is paying her back for her mischief.  The town elders start paying attention to these girls, and Ann then also decides to become involved and afflicted by witches.  She becomes very important to her family, rather than ignored.  She relishes the attention.  Ann soon becomes the leader of the group and bosses everyone around.  She lets people know what to do and when.  There are consequences for the girls when they do not obey her.  For example, Abigail is given the silent treatment and for a limited time is kicked out of the group for hollering when Ann did not tell her to.  Ann also killed Mercy’s dog, Wilson, when Mercy wanted to leave their group.  While Ann enjoyed the power and attention, the other two joined for different reasons.  Mercy Lewis joined when Ann begged by stating that a witch was spooking her.  Mercy knew how much Ann idolized her, and she was also her caregiver.  Mercy was hesitant to ‘see’ what Ann claimed to see the first time; however, she wanted to look out for Ann.  This all changes though when the lowly servant becomes revered as a seer.  Her words matter, and she is no longer invisible in the world.  Mercy manipulates Ann to do what she wants and ends up becoming the leader of the group until her dog Wilson is killed.  Mercy seeks revenge on her previous master, who had abused her, with her new power.  She justifies the resulting hangings and accusations as getting rid of people that are sinners.  She is the master-mind of strategy to make their voices continue being heard as the word of God.  Margaret is brought into the group initially by her jealousy of Mercy.  Margaret’s beau, Isaac, starts showing Mercy a lot of attention, which Margaret does not appreciate.  She joins the group to get attention from him.  Isaac becomes betrothed to Margaret; however, things still do not feel right for Margaret.  Isaac still flirts with everyone.  Isaac comes over one night when nobody is around and pressures her to have sex before their marriage.  He never comes around to visit her for some time after that.  Mercy learns of this from Isaac and consoles Margaret, which bonds Margaret more to the group.  Mercy later enables Margaret to save Isaac’s life, when she accuses Isaac of witchcraft and then lets Margaret deny the accusation.  Margaret is allowed out of the group before their demise, so that she can marry Isaac.  Isaac does not approve of the girls’ accusations, because he realizes that they are lying.  Margaret is never allowed to have contact with the other seers again, even in matters of life and death.  She had to stand by and do nothing while Elizabeth was run over by a carriage.  These young ladies wanted their voices heard and undivided attention above all else.       

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Hemphill does a wonderful job of letting the emotions and motives of the characters unfold through poetry.  The way the verses are written the audience feels like they know the private life and secrets of the girls.  It was a very intriguing way to carry out a historical fiction and poetry novel of the Salem Witch Trials in a fresh way.  The clique aspects are very relatable to teenage girls today.  There was definitely a mean girl syndrome of bullying through words and actions that girls of today still face.  This book deals with many tough issues, such as bullying, peer pressure, pre-marital sex, abuse, and neglect.  While most books show either the before or after of these controversial issues, this book shows, through inner thoughts, the cause of the acting out, the acting out, and the consequence of the action.  Without being preachy about a moral, it shows the extreme consequences of lying and getting caught in a lie.  Since it is done through poetry, the audience really focuses on the emotions and how each character fits into the whole situation.  This was very well executed.

 
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred review in BOOKLIST: "Once again, Hemphill's raw, intimate poetry probes behind the abstract facts and creates characters that pulse with complex emotion. According to an appended author's note, unresolved theories about the causes of the girls' behavior range from bread-mold-induced hallucinations to bird flu. In Hemphill's story, the girls fake their afflictions, and the book's 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."

Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL:  “The verse format is fresh and engaging, distilling the actions of the seven accusing girls into riveting narrative.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*It is great to use in conjunction with a history lesson on the Salem Witch Trials.

Other books for children about the Salem Witch Trials:

Aronson, Marc.  WITCH-HUNT:  MYSTERIES OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS.  ISBN 1416903151.

Wilson, Lori Lee.  THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS (HOW HISTORY IS INVENTED).  ISBN 0822548895. 

Myers, Anna.  TIME OF THE WITCHES.  ISBN 0802798209.

Hill, Frances.  DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL:  A NOVEL OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS.  ISBN 1590204700.

*It would be great to use in conjunction with a lesson discussing powerful women.  Give some examples of positive influences after this negative example.

Other books about powerful women: 

Bober, Natalie.  ABIGAIL ADAMS: WITNESS TO A REVOLUTION.  ISBN 0689819161.

Stanley, Jerry.  BIG ANNIE OF CALUMET.  ISBN 0517700972.