Here's the deal: sometimes, we just want to fit in. We call that a win-win around these parts. So you get to learn about a spooky time in America's history but it doesn't really feel like you're reading history. And the main character, Susanna English, is actually Nathaniel Hawthorne's great great aunt. Now A Break with Charity isn't a history book, so it has its fair share of fiction in it, but it's still an amazing story about real life events. And A Break with Charity takes us up-close-and-personal with these so-called sorceresses.

Yep, witches-as in making a pact with the devil and cutting people up kind of witches (not the cool Harry Potter kind). Reason (1): History Is CrazyĮver heard of the Salem witch trials? Well back in the day, a bunch of girls living in Salem accused their neighbors of being witches. We've got two reasons you're going to seriously dig this book. What is A Break With Charity About and Why Should I Care? Sure the tale is a wee bit spooky at times, but it's got us feeling like we stepped right into a time machine and that's pretty darn cool. Her tales are chockfull of history and lots of adventure to boot.Īnd ever since A Break with Charity came out, folks have been loving it-the American Library Association even has it on their list of the Best Books for Young Adults. Rinaldi is no newbie to the historical fiction scene, and she's cooked up her fair share of books for young adults (over forty to be sort of precise, which is no joke). That's a big job for a fourteen-year-old, no matter how awesome they are.Īlready this sounds like a wild and almost unbelievable story, right? Well you better believe it, folks, because this book is based on the true story of the Salem Witch Trials-when Ann Rinaldi published A Break with Charity in 1992, she brought history to life (and let's be honest, also made us seriously happy that we don't live in old school Salem). Yikes.īut you can bet that stopping this group isn't going be easy, and in addition to saving lives, Susanna has to figure out a way to protect her family at the same time. After all, they're not just pretending to be possessed-they're actually getting folks killed, too. And when Susanna finds out what this posse of lying gals is up to, she wants to stop them. Luckily for Salem, there's one lass who's not into the spotlight, and that's Susanna. Oh yes, you read that right: these mean girls are about to spark the Salem Witch Trials. And they aren't celebrated for their super cool new bonnets or their fancy shamncy petticoats-nope, they're famous because they're pretending to be possessed by witches. You see, there's this group of gals in Salem, Massachusetts who are getting pretty famous back in 1692. Who doesn't want to be a celebrity and have oodles of doting fans? Let's be real, Shmoopers: it seems cool to be famous.

A break with charity book