For a book written with 10 year olds in mind it was a fairly decent read. As an adult I felt like looking deeper gave this book more meaning. Jessica is both a dispicable child and yet you can't help but hope that she gets what she needs. It also has a bit of a horror edge to it so that was kind of fun as well.

I don’t think I’ve read this in perhaps 30 years. It was just as good as I remember it being.

I picked up a copy of this book for my daughter at a thrift store and ended up reading it because I was looking for a quick read. Plus, I like to share books with her. For me, one of the most interesting aspects of the book is the main character, Jessica. She's not an entirely likable protagonist, in that she does some backhanded things and isn't altogether honest with her friends, her family, or even herself. But that's part of what makes her so compelling: the reader is rooting for her to better herself. The big reason we care about Jessica at all is her home life. Her mom is barely around, focusing more on her own romantic life than on raising her daughter. Jessica's basically left to fend for herself, and she does the best she can. I really like how Snyder portrayed Jessica's mom. The writer doesn't judge her. Rather, she paints a realistic portrait that many of us may find all too familiar.

A possessed cat causes lots of bad things to happen. TOTALLY creepy.

Wow, this book was really ... different, for lack of a better word. Like some others, I did not like Jessica and could not feel any sympathy for her at all. I really did not like any characters in the book except Mrs. Post a little - at least she tried to do the right thing but maybe not in the right way and Mrs. Fortune a little - her advice might have been good but a little misguided (it seemed to me) in the way she gave it to Jessica. The uninvolved and clueless mother, abandonment by her friends and a cat with odd behavior just fueled Jessica's chip-on-the-shoulder mentality. Although there was some reconciliation with Brandon by the end, I would wonder what Jessica would be like by her teen years, especially if Worm was still with her - scary.

I think I read this when I was little, the first chapter seemed vaguely familiar. Pretty creepy. Not because Worm might be a demon cat, but because Jessica might be a psychopath. Brandon was an abusive little turd as well. I liked it though.

I was able to enjoy this more with the author's note in this version about inviting one's own devils and needing to exorcise them ourselves.

Previously read January 29, 2009.

I read the award-winning (why does this fact stick out in my mind? I've never given any Rhett Butler damns about awards. Probably because I've never won any) The Witches of Worm a long ass time ago. Basing this on my memories of a long ass time ago I'd say it was ultimately not THAT great (not because of expectations built up from awards, I swear).

I'm thinking of it now 'cause I feel paranoid and crazy like the young chick in this book. I was lonely and had emotional problems like her (ahem not anymore). She gets this black cat, whom she names Worm, and he "talks" to her and she does really mean things to other people in the name of Worm. He's a witches cat, or so she claims, and she is becoming his bitch- I mean, witch. She's pretty much one mean little girl. I felt bad for the cat. (I, um, might make my sennie, Pagoda, talk to me and call me "Evil white man". But I agree with him! Even when he takes it too far and tacks on atrocities, when he's on a roll, such as genocides, Idi Amin, and Rick Astley doing a Little Mermaid voice theft. And I give him those two figs that I don't give to awards that I don't care about.)

But I hate it when I feel bad for being the recluse who slinks off and mutters to herself when fitting into society was more trouble than it was worth.

I also hated the ending. What kind of ending was that? I actually barely remember the ending. Is this wrong?Like was that "exorcism" supposed to be like therapy? Because I don't believe that any quick fix like that is going to work. I'm not going to give Snyder any awards for good endings (or fig newtons).



My awards to evil little girls:

1. Jessica from The Witches of Worm. That poor kitty.

2. The Bad Seed's homicidal and tap-dancing Rhoda Penmark. I've only seen the film. Rhoda was hilarious, though. We'd use her lines to my mom sarcastically. She loved it.

3. Shirley Temple. My mom had dolls of her all over the house and tried to make little me and my twin (mostly my twin. She believed to her soul that I was "the ugly twin". Ahem we are identical and she misidentified us in photographs) be little Shirley Temples. It isn't Shirley's fault but... C'mon that stupid dance with the good ship something or other? Heinous!

4. Maucely (however you spell his name) Culkin in The Good Son. Poor Elijah Wood!

5. Dakota Fanning in that one movie she did.

Cute little kitties should rise up against their oppressors! Turn that Hello Kitty no-smile into a furious roar!

This book is hard to read, hard to feel good about and hard to forget. It's a dark story, unlikely to be appreciated by most young adults it seems to me. Not one of ZKS's better books, IMHO. It's frustrating because clearly Jessica is pretty disturbed, easily gets away with things or is easily excused from her sins, and the reader is left to think this will be a lifelong and acceptable pattern. I would be curious to know what young adults today might think of this book.

Totally creepy and awesome! I really like this book because it wasnt your typical "goosebumps" scary. I was a little afraid of the neighborhood cats after this one.

This classic young adults novel is several decades older than i believed, and taking that into account i have an increased amount of appreciation of this book. The main character is pretty mean to the cat, she treated the animal in many ways I would NEVER have as a child. I loved all the other characters, I could practically see mrs fortune and hear Brandon's trumpet.

Unexpected, refreshing, relatable.