The Sacrifice

By Kathleen Benner Duble

Period: 1692 Massachusetts/Salem Witch Trials

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

What happened in Salem Village reverbrates miles away in Andover, Massachusetts in this quick-moving story. Abigail Faulkner is an outspoken girl living a normal life of chores and church in Andover. When the girls of Salem Village, a full 18 miles away, begin accusing others of witchcraft, Abby is both fascinated and horrified. But then the witch hysteria hits Andover in full force, and Abby's aunt, among others, is accused of witchcraft. A month after she has been taken to jail to await her trial in Salem, Abby and her older sister Dorothy are also accused by their old servant, Sarah. The two girls are sent to prison with their aunt, and spend the next three months in a crowded, dark jail cell in Salem. They hear that noone who has gone to trial has been found innocent. Then their mother visits with a bold plan to free them before it is too late. Can the girls keep their stories straight and avoid the gallows? Or will the truth set them free? This is a fascinating story about the witch trial hysteria that swept through Massachusetts towns and villages and is still a mystery to this day. Readers will be swept along in the wake of these impossible events and be left with much to think over. A good bit of history in a fast-moving tale.