What Were the Salem Witch Trials?

What was...?

by Joan Holub, Who H.Q., Dede Putra (Illustrator)

Something wicked was brewing in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It started when two girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began having hysterical fits. Soon after, other local girls claimed they were being pricked with pins. With no scientific explanation available, the residents of Salem came to one it was witchcraft! Over the next year and a half, nineteen people were convicted of witchcraft and hanged while more languished in prison as hysteria swept the colony. Author Joan Holub gives readers and inside look at this sinister chapter in history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Historical, Middle Grade, American History, Biography

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

NY Times bestselling children's book author:
GODDESS GIRLS series + HEROES IN TRAINING series (w Suzanne Williams); THIS LITTLE TRAILBLAZER a Girl Power Primer; ZERO THE HERO; I AM THE SHARK. Lucky to be doing what I love!

Reviews

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 4 out of 5]

"During the Salem witch trials, about 200 people were unfairly accused of witchcraft. Over 50 of them confessed. Five died in jail, including Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good's baby. Dorcas, Sarah Good's other child, spent 8 months in jail and became mentally ill. Twenty innocent people (14 women and 6 men) were executed, 19 by hanging and 1 by pressing. It was a terrible tragedy."

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First review of 2016! Wahoo!

Something's bubbling and brewing in Salem, Mass. and it's not looking good for several of the villagers. Most adults know the generals of the Salem Witch Trials, but a lot of kids don't. (I asked my fifth graders the exact question "What were the Salem Witch Trials?" and, out of 35 students, only 2 had even heard of and they didn't know what it was.) Holub gives a great introduction to the history of the Trials. She included a lot of little facts that I didn't even know. It was fascinating to read about what happened to many of the participants following the Trials.

Fabulous series for adults and kids alike!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read this for the second time (5 years apart) and my rating did change from a 3 star to a 4 star. There was tons of research done for this book and you can sense that within the writing. I always love when real pictures are added in the book.
This did feel more like work than pleasure though, and that's why I cannot give it 5 stars.

First review: 06/03/2016 -
There's too many names written in here that it gets confusing. I kept losing track on who we were talking about.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally was looking forward to this one. I was obsessed with all things witchy and Salem as a teen. I hoped my daughter would love it. It included some real photos, but this one scared my 8 yr old.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t my favorite of this series.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked It but wasn't crazy about It. It is a non fiction book about lying horrible little girls who acted all sick and blamed people calling them witches. They did not give them fair trials. They suffered horrible deaths. Even a four year old. It was also the blame game. one woman blaming the other and same with that one and that one and that one. ( vice versa)
What I liked about this is how fascinating it is how every so called witch was a girl. ( well there was two guys..... but that's it!) and one a slave. others poor. anyway the girls knew no one would defend a slave woman or other women. ( sad times.)
what I learned from this is.... never pull a stunt like that or everything will get messed up and there will be no turning back.

[Mimi Batata · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, one day, I was walking in my local library. I went in a random isle, and found What Were the Salem Witch Trials? in the wrong place, but I didn't care. This has been in my Want to Reads for MONTHS and I FINALLY FOUND IT! It was a great-written book! I learned a lot more than what I learned on Youtube(No offence, youtubers who made videos about the Salem Witch Trials!)! It was so awesome, I couldn't put it down! My parents were like, 'MIMI! IT'S DINNER TIME! PUT THE BOOK AWAY!' and 'MIMI! YOU DON'T NEED A BOOK TO GET YOUR HAIR DRIED! PUT THE BOOK AWAY!' I was like, 'Do I have to?' and my parents were like, 'Yep.'
Over all, a very informational, efficient read.

[Lino]

The salem witch trials is about from a loge time ago there were slavery in 1711 and i like this story because i like history in story we you do not follow the rules you will get hang in a rope and people do not like it we they do that.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to digest for little readers, parts of this skinny book will augment our The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

[Readasaurus Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

This book is a short good read, it would be perfect for a middle schooler. I'm going to keep this author in mind when my daughter is older.

[Sabrina]

i cant believe this actually happened

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good. I liked how it was able to teach you about the Salem Witch Trails but not be so long.

[Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is very scary because a lot of innocent people were executed just because a doctor thought 2 girls were bewitched!😱

[Ashley Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great edition to the WHO HQ Series.

[Kesslee Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty helpful, because I needed some additional information for a speech I’m currently writing! I would recommend, if needed for that kind of thing.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Newsflash, humans really suck.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Salem Witch Trails are a very complex topic, a very complicated subject. This book cleared up what I didn't get about the subject. This book helps you fully understand the unfairness of the trails. I recommend this book to people who love history and/or just like learning abut something new.

[Nivya Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short read, giving the reader a quick ride in and out of Salem witch trials. Very informative, illustrations are epic and aid to easy understanding

[Mary-Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this one. It had several photographs of historic Salem Village which always makes nonfiction text more meaningful to kids. I will recommend this one to students, for sure.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

viewpoint was biased, story was interesting-ish

[M.M. Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a few of the "What were... or Who Is..." series of books. They are always concise and informative. Usually they are aimed at grades 3-7. This one is no different with the exception of who the author is. All of the authors are different for each book. Joan Holub has written a few including this one.

I knew a little about the Salem Witch Trials but as usual with these books, I found out a little more. For example, I thought all of the "witches" were burned at the stake in Salem. Actually, they were not but hung, which doesn't make the atrocity any better but just different than I knew. I also did not know it wasn't until 2001...YES, 2001, that all the victims were vindicated. Amazing!

The book was extremely thorough in how the accusing began, how it spread, and how it eventually ended. Photos and drawings were included to support the information. All of it was interesting and somewhat of an eye opener. I would caution to have conversations especially with younger children about some topics that may be frightening.

Terrific book and gets 5 pumpkins!

Disclosure:

I received a copy of this book from the author. The reviews here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Were the Salem Witch Trials? by Joan Holub details a dark time in the early colonial days in America in Salem Town, Massachusetts. It started when two local girls, Betty Parris and Abegail Williams, started having fits and claimed they were being pricked with pins. The immediate suspicion was that they were under a witch's spell. It soon began to spread to other children and some of them began naming who the witches were. This led to arrests and trials with more than twenty eventually being hanged before it was brought to an end. Much later some realized that they had made a mistake and killed some innocent people in the hysteria and fear that gripped the community. This is a relatively short read and targeted for the youth market but, having read other books on this topic, I found it to be fact-based and accurate as well as very easy to read and follow the main characters. Many asides present additional information about specific people or events. I found it to be interesting and factual.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the Salem Witch Trials are a very fascinating time in our history. I think this is the perfect book to use to introduce younger kids to this topic while still making sure it's appropriate for them. I would really recommend this entire series, the Who Was/What Was series, to any elementary or younger middle school aged students. This is my thirteenth book in this series, and I think this is one of my favorite ones along with What was the Holocaust? and What Was the Titanic? Each of these books feature illustrations, side bars with extra historical information, a timeline of the most important events, and suggested reading/bibliography.

I read this book all in one day quick as a review of this history, and I was engaged the entire time. I learned many, many new facts while reading this. To be honest, I even wrote a list of all the interesting facts to help remember everything. I don't want to ruin the experience for anyone else, but I would just recommend this book for kids and adults to see if you really know the true story of the Salem Witch Trials.

[Mayad Tarabey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will start off by saying how much I love the “what/who/where” series. They explain so much details about a certain topic/place/person in a very direct way and they write it very simple for you to understand it.

The Salem Witch Trials has been one of my favorite topics ever since I was exposed to it through various media (novels, movies, shows… etc.) I watched too many videos and read so much about it that I thought was enough.
But reading this short book and seeing how much effort and research was put into made me question my understanding of the trials. Also it has pictures for those who desire that!

One of the things that stood out to me the most was the fact that people were starting to question the trials once a man was killed. Very. Interesting. And. Very. Telling. 🙄

Nonetheless, this book was very well written and contains so much information that can help you out if you’re as curious as I was about the Salem Witch Trials.
Also, I would love to visit Salem one day to experience the whole thing I just read about.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book talks about the Salem Witch Trials where young girls were accusing people of being a witch because the they were getting pinched by them spiritually. This event occurred in 1692 in Salem village. 20 people were killed and 200 were accused with most being killed by hanging except for the one guy that was compressed until his rib cage collapsed. It all start when the Puritan reverend Parris’s two daughters accused 3 people: Tituba (Their slave), Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne (neighbors).

In my opinion this book was ok. It was interesting to learn about the Witch Trials and the details on the certain people who died and who was put in jail. I think the jury and judges were stupid to let people be accused by 3-year olds. Something that is different from then to now is to be called innocent you have to prove to be not guilty, instead of someone else trying to prove you guilty. I

[Δάσκαλος · Rating 4 out of 5]

TIL that a witchcraft hysteria had happened in the Salem Village in 1692 and it costed innocent lives.

1. "Having a strange mark on your skin was considered a sign you were a witch." (p. 19)
2. "The two judges questioned Sarah Good. But they didn’t ask if she was hurting the girls. They asked her why she was hurting them. They had already decided she was guilty." (p. 21)
3. "In Salem back then, it was up to suspects to prove they were not guilty. In courts today, it’s the opposite. Now, suspects in a crime are considered innocent until they are proven guilty. ... Still, there was really no way they could prove their innocence against invisible evidence." (p. 39)
4. IMHO, Cotton Mather had a power and knew the trials were wrong, but did nothing. Useless.
5. "At the end of October 1692, the witch trial court was closed." (p. 49)
6. "Twenty innocent people (fourteen women and six men) were executed, nineteen by hanging and one by pressing." (p. 58)

[Muxiang Pajerski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a slow reader, but I finished reading it at once after my 11-year old daughter showed it to me. She borrowed it from her school library. It's the best history book I have ever read. It's a short and good read. It's rich in research, facts, culture background, characters, and timeline. I learned the origin of witch-hunt and Halloween from this book. Many good new words for me too.

It's a very useful book for English-as-a-second-language speakers who live in the US like me to learn some culture and reference that we unlikely can learn in a regular classroom.

It also reminded me of one of the drama education sessions (stories) that I was in last year. Profound, amusing, surprising, shocking, sad, interesting, and fun!

[Grazie Mille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, the Salem Witch Trials were crazy! A four year old was convicted??? FOUR YEARS OLD??? And an old grandmother who had never raised a finger against anyone? It's rather dreadful to think about. And I kind of have some mad respect for the man who refused to say whether he was innocent or guilty. What a man. (although not a fun death...)

I wonder, did the girls live with regret for the rest of their lives after what they had done? I'm sure I would. It's all so strange, too. The fits and everything. I wonder why they even did it. It hardly makes any sense! Was the sickness real or fake? Or will we ever know?

[Halima · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this thinking that I would learn about a culture, but no it was about witches in history and how they became witches. To what they did, and how they got treated for being Witches. It kind of reminded me of this guys on tiktok who would make fun videos on women, back in the days who could read and writing, but kept a secret until they exposed themselves, so men would believed they were witches.

It was funny but It also gave a creepy feeling to it because it did talk about making a contract with the devil, and that just got me up my seat. Its a okay book, and I like how it showed pictures of how the people were feeling.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter picked up this book when we visited Salem. She read it three times and wanted me to read it. For such a small book it contains lots of information. I learned some stuff that either I didn’t learn in school or I had forgotten that I learned. I had not realized that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s great great grandfather had been part of the witch trials. One of the things we learned when we visit Salem was that Nathaniel was very embarrassed by this, and had change the spelling of his last name so he wouldn’t be associated with the Salem witch trials. This is a fun quick informative read. And I highly recommend it and my daughter absolutely loved it.