Full disclosure: I first discovered The Witch of Blackbird Pond in or around 1972 through one of those beloved Scholastic book orders.

My ten-year-old self had a penchant for horror, and the book's title was somewhat misleading. I fully expected to read of cauldrons and covens and spells. However, what I got was a fascinating, coming-of-age, historical fiction that has stuck with me for over 45 years.

I don't often revisit novels I've already read. There are far too many unread books on my shelves to be backtracking through charted territory. But this is one of those touchstones for me that first fueled my love of literature. So, back I went. Back to 1687 and the puritanical intolerance of colonial America.

TWOBP is more allegorical than I remembered it to be. Where my ten-year-old self crushed on sixteen-year-old Katherine "Kit" Tyler, my crusty-old-man self anguished over the perils of living in a religious state where bigotry and intolerance can get an innocent person burned at the stake.

Yes, my perspective may have changed over the years, but my love of this book has remained fairly steadfast and true. It's a reminder of how a single book can have such a profound and lasting impact on a person's life and literary tastes.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It has quickly become my new favorite.

If I had the option, I would definitely give it six stars! However, it's no surprise that I adored it because I have always been a huge fan of Elizabeth George Speare's writing.

Her writing style is simply magnificent. It is beautifully lyrical, with words that flow like a gentle river, painting vivid pictures in the reader's mind. At the same time, it is also riveting, keeping you on the edge of your seat, eager to turn the next page and find out what happens next.

I can't get enough of her books, and this one is no exception. It has captured my heart and imagination, and I know I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story, beautifully told. It is truly a masterpiece.

In 1687, Kit Tyler steps off a ship that has carried her from Barbados, where she has spent all of her sixteen years. She arrives at a dull little colonial village in Connecticut populated by Puritans.

Kit, who has been raised by her wealthy grandfather on a plantation with slaves, is in for a huge shock in Puritan New England. But with her grandfather's death and the loss of all his money, she has no choice but to seek out her mother's sister, Rachel Wood, and her family.

This lively little tale of life among the struggling settlers in the early American colonies begins. Kit struggles to fit in; she meets a few people she can care for, but they are mostly outcasts—and in the narrow-minded Puritan culture, it is dangerous to be or care for a misfit. Kit experiences adventure, peril, temptation, and strength before her story concludes.

As a child, I adored this book, perhaps because Kit was a headstrong outsider, or perhaps because she found comfort in the natural world. As an adult, I find it more difficult to read. Kit accepts the society of her childhood as normal and complains about having to sell her personal slave as if she were the one suffering, not the unnamed slave girl. She never realizes the dark side of that world and is too sentimental about the luxuries it provided, failing to consider the cost. The native people of New England are also portrayed as a faceless threat, even with a culturally inappropriate mention of "scalping," as if the author never questioned the invidious stereotypes applied to Native Americans. This sits strangely with the book's message of tolerance and acceptance of difference, its argument against prejudging strangers. Apparently, open-mindedness had its limits in 1958, when the book was written. It is not woke.

Nevertheless, this book is very well-written and researched; it weaves many concrete details of life in colonial America into the story. And it tells a captivating story of a character tested and proven in the face of hardship. Kit matures a great deal during the year she spends in Connecticut, and I find it hard to believe the book wouldn't still be valuable reading for young girls today.

2020 Re-Read


Me: I re-read this book every year!

Also me: *lets 3 years go by between reading*


Considering I own 3 copies you'd think this one would come up more frequently.


Re-read 3.22.17

I've read this book easily over 20, maybe even 30 times, yet it still remains one of my all-time favorites.
......................


Re-read 2013


I was around 11 years old when Mom first read The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare out loud to us. That was a great year for read-alouds. We were studying American history, and that meant Johnny Tremain, Carry On Mr Bowditch, Sign of the Beaver, and Calico Bush. But my favorite, the book I picked up and read and re-read until I wore out our copy and had to buy a new one, was The Witch of Blackbird Pond. It is the first book I remember reading over and over again and probably remains the story I have read the most. In fact, I just re-read it. I wasn't sure I could put my thoughts into words for a review. Can something so personal really be explained?


Plot:

For those of you who haven't read it, The Witch of Blackbird Pond is about Kit Tyler, a 16-year-old orphan. Raised on the beautiful island of Barbados, Kit is forced to leave her tropical home for the cold and uninviting Connecticut Colony of Wethersfield, where her strict Puritan relatives don't know what to do with her. Once used to silks, petticoats, and the care of black slaves, she is now forced to work and wear plain cotton dresses appropriate for the austere population. Her only comfort is found in the meadows where the old Quaker woman, Hannah Tupper, lives. Will she ever be able to adapt to the stubborn New England population, or will she return to Barbados? And when the unthinkable happens and the mob goes after Hannah as a witch, can Kit save her in time? And where does the mocking young sailor, Nat Eaton, fit into all of this?


Literary Love:

One of my favorite passages is when Kit first sees the meadows.


\\"As they came out from the shelter of the trees and the Great Meadows stretched before them, Kit caught her breath. She had not expected anything like this. From the first moment, in a way she could never explain, the Meadows claimed her and made her their own. As far as she could see they stretched on either side, a great level sea of green, broken here and there by a solitary graceful elm. Was it the fields of sugar cane they brought to mind, or the endless reach of the ocean to meet the sky? Or was it simply the sense of freedom and space and light that spoke to her of home?…How often she would come back she had no way of foreseeing, nor could she know that never, in the months to come, would the Meadows break the promise they held for her at this moment, a promise of peace and quietness and of comfort for a troubled heart.\\"


Go ahead and re-read that. Let each word roll off your tongue. Taste it. I love the writing in this book.


I also love the characters. Hannah Tupper used to fascinate me. Where did she go when the floods came and filled her little cottage by Blackbird Pond? She was so homey and wonderful. More than once, I imagined myself joining Kit, Prudence, and Hannah on the sun-warmed floor with the kittens and blueberry cake or sitting in the eaves as Kit and Nat re-thatched the roof. There is a lot of character development in the story, whether it's Kit learning to love her new homeland or her cousin Judith navigating the world of beaus. I love Kit's cousin Mercy. I think Nat might have been my first Favorite Literary Guy.


More than anything, though, more than the characters and the writing, I love the time period in which this story takes place. When men and women grew up fast and worked hard. When America was being tamed by colonists and their fight for independence. I love the descriptions of the New England men, as firm as rocks. Uncle Matthew, John Holbrook, William Ashby, and of course Nat Eaton. They valued their independence and would not easily submit to a King's rule, a King's governor, or extra taxes on the land they tamed with their own hands. This is the true founding of the United States. The beginning steps that led up to Lexington, the Declaration of Independence, and beyond.
All in a novel.


It's books like this one that prove why stories can be so powerful. There is no deep, hidden meaning in the pages. You don't have to have a doctorate to understand the story. It's a good novel, comforting and well-written, but it's also about a young woman from Barbados, a Royalist, a total stranger coming to understand and love the spirit that tamed the colonies. It was a spirit that nourished me as a girl, that formed deep within me and taught me to hope and dream. It was a spirit that found strength from the novels I loved and the history I read.


So to understand me, you have to try and understand that part of me. The reason I was probably the only high school girl with a picture of George Washington hanging above my bed instead of a favorite pop-band. The reason the Revolutionary War captures my imagination so. The reason I can get so excited over long dead philosophers like John Locke and Charles de Montesquieu. Because they wrote about freedom. I look out my window and see carefully paved roads, solid houses, and trees that have never felt the bite of an ax. But if you go a little farther, you can see the stone-field farmhouse from the 1800s where my grandparents live and my ancestors settled many, many years ago. Go a little farther and you can see the one-room schoolhouse still standing where my relative taught school to the pioneer children many, many years ago. Go back even farther and watch as my ancestor joined in signing the Mayflower Compact. Go back farther and trace the British roots and the sense of personal freedom stretching from the Magna Carta to the book of Deuteronomy and on and on.


Patriotic is sort of a cheesy word these days. Red, white, and blue. And yet it is possible for us to be patriotic because of those log cabins and the ships that traded dangerously in the wind-tossed sea. It is possible for us to be patriotic because our ancestors so many years ago stood up for their rights and freedom against the King. I love The Witch of Blackbird Pond because that rock that Kit learns to lean on, that stubborn independence, that fight for liberty…that's in my blood. Our culture may try to dilute it. Historians may try to re-write it. The well-manicured lawns outside my window may scoff at it. But I know, deep down inside, that when the time comes, we must fight for our rights. The United States was an experiment. It was men fighting the charters of their King. And though time may lull us, the experiment is not yet over. That is what I know, and that is why this book is so important to me.





Published on Fernweh's Call
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**Expanded Article**

In 1687, in the Connecticut Colony's Wethersfield, Katherine “Kit” Tyler, the granddaughter of a wealthy Barbados plantation owner, had a life of privilege. But with her grandfather's passing, she pleaded with her Aunt Rachel in Connecticut to take her in. Aunt Rachel welcomed Kit with open arms, but her husband, Puritan elder Matthew Wood, was less than thrilled. Kit was deeply immersed in the mainstream Anglican culture of the time, loving playacting and colorful clothing. Matthew worried that his niece would be a bad influence on his teenage daughters and draw unwanted attention to their household.

Matthew's concerns were not unfounded. Wethersfield was filled with paranoid gossips. Like all New England residents in the 17th century, they had to constantly battle the elements for survival and had very little leisure time. As Puritans, they had few amusements other than fostering mistrust of any neighbor who was even slightly different. Kit, sheltered and spoiled yet naturally kind and brave, tried hard to adapt to her new home. However, on a particularly difficult day, she met Hannah Tupper, a Quaker widow ostracized from the community. Hannah's house became a haven for local misfits, including Kit, abused little Prudence Cruff, and handsome Nat Eaton from the neighboring settlement.
A dark wind was beginning to blow through New England. The people of Wethersfield had shunned Hannah because she was a Quaker, not a witch as some might have accused. At Kit's trial, common accusations against alleged witches were thrown around, such as her being seen conversing with the Devil.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond has been a favorite of mine since I was eleven. While often used in social studies classes to teach about the Salem Witch Trials, the book is set in a different colony, a few years before the hysteria began in Salem, and its accusers are not the infamous group of girls. It's a precursor to those events, on a smaller scale, and fortunately ends with Hannah, Nat, Kit, and Prudence all alive and well. But despite the main characters' escape, Speare does an excellent job creating a tense atmosphere in the novel that lingers even after they are vindicated. These individuals were spared, but others would not be so fortunate.
There is also a lot of subtle foreshadowing of the American Revolution in the dialogue of Uncle Matthew and some of the other town council members. They resent the King's high-handed treatment of the colonists and predict that this discontent will eventually lead to bloodshed, although they are not sure if they will live to see it. The event they foresaw finally occurred ninety years later, and one can imagine that their descendants were at the forefront. It's clear that Speare took great pride in her fiery New England ancestors.
A significant part of this book's lasting appeal is how relatable its heroine is. Poor Kit. She's impulsive and a bit spoiled, but always has good intentions and tries not to cause trouble unless necessary. She is misunderstood by most and hated by many. The only people who truly understand her are an elderly person, a child, and an attractive male peer who also doesn't fit neatly into the Puritan youth mold. Kit learns that the number of friends one has means nothing, but the quality of those friends means everything.
Speare is also very skilled at presenting a lot of interpersonal drama with a large cast in a relatively short book without making it seem overcrowded. Like The Bronze Bow, there are many young characters here struggling to balance their ideals with their families and courtships. It adds a great deal of human interest to the story without ever becoming a soap opera. I cared about how the relationships between Kit and Nat, Judith and William, and Mercy and John would work out because they were all likable enough, had lives outside of their romantic problems, and the book's main focus was elsewhere.
I wish more modern authors remembered how to do this. I love a good romance, but it seems like every book these days forgets its real purpose as it dwells on the characters' raging hormones. Who cares about saving the world when there are love triangles to solve? It's as if the authors are writing their own fanfiction. The attitude of Blackbird Pond, along with other YA offerings from this earlier era (such as The Sherwood Ring, The Perilous Gard, The Bronze Bow, Johnny Tremain, etc.), was that your relationship issues would resolve themselves if you prioritized more important matters, such as defending the defenseless and protecting one's homeland.
This book has moments of darkness and dread, balanced with cozy family scenes by the hearth that still acknowledge the darkness outside. It immerses you in the world of the characters, a world filled with ignorance and fear but also with hope, courage, and the peace that comes from doing the right thing. It's worth reading regardless of your age.

This was truly so good!

Kit is an outstanding main character. Her relationship with her family is both heartwarming and complex, adding depth to the story. Additionally, her friendships with Hanna, Prudence, and Nat are equally endearing.

And let's not forget about The Witch! That aspect of the story was simply amazing. It added an element of mystery and excitement that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I only wish it had a longer epilogue. I would have loved to see more of their adventures in Barbados. What kind of new experiences would they have? How would their relationships evolve? The possibilities are endless, and I'm left longing for more.

Overall, this was a captivating read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

My autumn witch-a-thon continues with The Witch of Blackbird Pond, a remarkable novel by Elizabeth George Speare that won the Newberry Medal. Published in 1958, it's required reading in some public schools. The Bookman in Orange has new copies, and my friend Steve Green at McClain's Coffeehouse in Fullerton had a bad flashback when he saw me reading it, remembering his junior high days. I was impressed by Speare's narrative finesse and historical detail. However, the story didn't meet my expectations for a wicked witch-a-thon and has issues common to the Young Adult genre.

The drama revolves around Katherine "Kit" Tyler, a 16-year-old who arrives in the Connecticut Colony in April 1687. Born and raised on a Barbados plantation with her grandfather, Kit leaves for the Colonies after his death to live with her Aunt Rachel. On the Dolphin, she meets Nathaniel "Nat" Eaton and John Holbrook. When a doll belonging to Prudence goes overboard, Kit dives in to retrieve it, shocking those who've never seen a woman swim.

Kit continues to cause waves by revealing she can read. When she reaches Wethersby, she discovers it's a small Puritan village. Her uncle Matthew is a strict farmer, and her cousins Judith and Mercy have different personalities. Kit tries to fit in by doing chores but faces challenges. She also catches the attention of William Ashby, a wealthy suitor.

Kit finds her stride when she helps Mercy teach at the dame school. She befriends Hannah Tupper, a Quaker woman wrongly accused of being a witch. Kit defies her uncle's orders and continues to visit Hannah. But when a fever affects the village youth, Hannah is blamed, and Kit is pulled into the witch hunt.

Elizabeth George Speare does a great job of creating a vivid Puritan village and interesting characters. While most characters remain static, Uncle Matthew and Nat evolve as they understand Kit better. The prose is excellent, effectively描绘 the setting. However, the story lacks the eerie and frightening elements I expected. Hannah Tupper, the title character, is rather forgettable.

Overall, The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a good book, but not one to get your heart racing on Halloween. The cover art over the years has hinted at different types of books. My favorite is Cover #4 from 1971, which promises a thrilling chiller. Cover #1 accurately reflects the YA novel, but it's a bit generic.

FULL REVIEW HERE:

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"She ​snatched at the dream that had comforted her for so long. It was faded and thin, like a letter too often read."

This book is a remarkable exploration of identity, belonging, friendship, and the breaking of social class boundaries. It stands out as uncharacteristically deep for young adult novels. The historical accuracy of the time period is impressive, and Elizabeth George Spear skillfully incorporates distinct and complex accents that are easy to read. From the Quaker 'witch' to the Barbados Kit Tyler and the Connecticut colony residents, each character has a unique personality that cannot be mistaken.

Don't be misled by the title. There is no actual witchcraft in the book. It is essentially a story similar to the Salem Witch Trials, but set in the New England coastal town of Wethersfield. Some of the major themes include the political issues of the 17th century, religious differences between Protestants and Quakers, the variation in education from country to country (as exemplified by Kit's comment, "What a pity every child couldn't learn to read under a willow tree..."), and the impact of judgment on culture. These are just a few of the many elements that make this book so rich and engaging.

If you have an interest in history, you will surely love the detailed portrayal of daily life in 17th century America. Even if you're not a history buff like me, you will still enjoy this Newberry Medal-winning classic. We would love to hear your thoughts! Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog.

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There was nothing truly WOW STUPENDOUS about this book.

I like it well enough, but it didn't really blow me away. The witch trial was my favorite part, and indeed, it was the highlight of the whole book for me. However, the plot was slow almost the entire time.

Kit was an okay heroine. She does what she thinks is right and stands by it, but she didn't have a whole lot of personality. Her spontaneity wasn't really all that spontaneous. Since Kit was rich, she felt very degraded by all of the work she was told to do. This bothered me because she seemed to think that only servants did that sort of work and that she was above it. Fortunately, it wasn't mentioned very often, and Kit does more or less get used to it, so it didn't bother me too much in the end.

The setting was in Puritan times, and it felt like a true description of Puritan life. However, not many events happened. I think the plot was supposed to be character-driven, but the characters just didn't interest me enough. There were numerous romances going on at the time, but none of them really caught my attention. I felt for the characters (especially Mercy), but I wasn't really hooked.

Lastly, I didn't feel like I learned anything new from reading this book. It was an okay read, but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

I am truly overjoyed that I finally had the opportunity to read this remarkable book. Elizabeth George's story offers a captivating and wonderful peek into the life that prevailed in New England during the 1600s. I simply adored the main character, Kit, and as the book advanced, all the characters gradually grew on me more and more.

This book was a school-required reading, yet I had been desiring to read it for several years. I vividly remember that my fourth grade teacher had it in her classroom, but I steered clear of it due to the presence of "The Witch" in the title. However, rather than being a story about an actual witch, The Witch of Blackbird Pond delves into a witch trial that took place in the seventeenth-century and revolves around a spirited girl who struggles to fit into her aunt and uncle's Puritan lifestyle.

I have a great appreciation for the character development in this book. It was neither too fast-paced nor too slow according to my taste. In fact, it was nearly perfect. For me, characters are the most crucial aspect of a story, and each character in this book was well-developed, captivating, and they all fit together seamlessly to create a great historical fiction novel.

I truly loved the romance element in the story. I wasn't anticipating it in a book of this nature, but it was essential for this particular narrative. It was an integral part of the main plot, yet it was light-hearted. (But still perfectly adorable, I assure you!) Kit's anxiety regarding the marriage that was expected of her in her new home added momentum to the story. And then there was Nat... the son of the sea captain and the goofy, boyish New Englander whom Kit doesn't even realize she loves. (But the reader does, and that's what matters!) ;) *swoon* Anyone who knows me is aware that I am a hopeless romantic, and any hint of romance in a book keeps me engaged with the plot line.

It took me a considerable amount of time to finish this book - approximately nine or ten days. I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to read it; it has a decent length of 250 pages, which is certainly not as long as some other books I've read. (I have been in a bit of a book slump lately, so I'll attribute it to that.) However... as much as I would like to give this book five stars, it was extremely slow in the beginning. I was truly not hooked until the last four or five chapters; hence the four stars.

This is definitely a book that anyone should read. I am so glad that I finally got around to it. I'm actually looking forward to writing the essay that I have to do for school, and that's a first! :)

Not anything like my preconceived notion, The Witch of Blackbird Pond is an outstanding young adult novel.

Set in the late 1600s in New England among the Puritans, it tells a captivating story. Kit Tyler arrives on a ship from Barbados. From her first moments in Connecticut, when she reveals that she can swim, she doesn't fit in. The neighbors, in their superstition, think she must be a witch because she can float!

Her relatives take her in reluctantly. Kit tries hard to make herself useful in this new and grim environment, which is so different from the tropical paradise she was born in.

Kit comes from an affluent family where the work was done by the slaves they owned. Her hardy Connecticut cousins attempt to make her understand how wrong this is.

Kit's loneliness and despair soon lead her to connect with another outcast from the Puritan society. However, this connection may put Kit's life in jeopardy. It could potentially mean her death.

The story unfolds with Kit facing numerous challenges and having to adapt to a completely different way of life. It is a tale of growth, self-discovery, and the consequences of going against the norms of society.

Overall, The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a must-read for young adults as it offers a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era and explores themes such as prejudice, acceptance, and the power of friendship.

This situation immediately brought to my mind the famous children's book, The Little House in the Big Woods. However, this particular incident had much more drama involved, with a witch trial and all the excitement that comes with it.

It was truly a captivating and engaging little story. The elements of mystery and the unexpected added an extra layer of thrill.

I found myself completely immersed in the narrative, eagerly following along to see what would happen next. The details were vividly described, allowing me to picture the scenes in my mind's eye.

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I couldn't help but be entertained by the unique combination of elements that made this story stand out. It was a pleasant reminder that sometimes, even the simplest of stories can hold great charm and excitement.