Book: The Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble

Book Info: Published by Margaret K. McElderberry; 224 pages; hardcover

Source: Borrowed from the library

Genre: YA/Historical Fiction

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes and Noble~Amazon~Kathleen Benner Duble

Goodreads.com Summary: In the year 1692, life changes forever for ten-year-old Abigail Faulkner and her family. In Salem, Massachusetts, witches have been found, and widespread fear and panic reign mere miles from Abigail’s home of Andover. When two girls are brought from Salem to identify witches in Andover, suspicion sweeps the town as well-respected members of the community are accused of witchcraft. It isn’t long before chaos consumes Andover, and the Faulkners find themselves in the center of it all when friend turns themselves in the center of it all when friend turns against friend, neighbor against neighbor, in a desperate fight for the truth. At the heart of this gripping story are Abigail and her sister, Dorothy, who together must find a way to persevere during a period marked by terror, adversity, and ignorance.

Told from Abigail’s point of view and based on actual events in the author’s own family histoy, “The Sacrifice” offers a unique perspective of the Salem witch trials by delving into the devestating effects the trials had not just in Salem but throughout Massachusetts.

This book was okay.  It seemed a little younger than I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it a little.

I think I loved the setting and the historical back-drop the most.  It did seem very real and I liked that it was based on the author’s own family tree.  I think I was really surprised by the fact that it was set in a town near Salem, and not in Salem itself.

Duble does a great job of showing just how widespread and crazy the witch trials were, and how limited your choices were if you were accused of witchcraft.  Some of the names seemed vaguely familiar for some reason, and I definitely want to read up on the Salem Witch trials.

Even though there were more than a few things about the novel I really liked, overall, I didn’t like it as much as I was expecting.  Duble only scratched the surface, and it didn’t go into a lot of depth, but it is a good introduction to what things might have been like.  I give it a 2 out of 5.