Once upon a time, in Vermont…


Witness, but Karen Hesse, is a gripping story, told in blank verse form, of a Vermont town in 1924 who suffered an incursion of the Klan on their small town. ‘Family Values’ and American purity was stressed then, as it sometimes is now, and few saw through it, until things begin to happen. Good people questioned themselves. And some did not.

I loved the sepia-toned photographs, which, like a list of actors in a playbill, I kept flipping back to look at repeatedly. The story really came alive.

A quick and insightful piece, encouraging me to read more Karen Hesse!

About the author

tanita s. davis is a writer and avid reader who prefers books to most things in the world, including people. That's ...pretty much it, she's very boring and she can't even tell jokes. She is, however, the author of nine books, including Serena Says, Partly Cloudy, Go Figure, Henri Weldon, and the Coretta Scott King honored Mare's War. Look for her new MG, The Science of Friendship in 1/2024 from Katherine Tegen Books.

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