Maybe because they don’t fit with what the people in charge have to say…look beyond the dominate narrative…you can rewrite the narrative if you ask the right questions. There are parts of the story that are overlooked. With a substitute teacher serving as her mentor, Colleen’s research into The Crucible and the dark history of Danvers provides valuable evidence about the power of those in charge: Today, Colleen Rowley holds powerful information about the town’s past and how it could be related to what is transpiring now. It was she who accused her neighbors of witchcraft. Ann Putnam was a young woman fully involved in the Salem witch trials. Using parallel narratives, Howe gets inside the minds of two young girls, separated by three centuries of history. Is it possible this modern epidemic is somehow related to that of the past? Originally known as Salem Village, Danvers has a history of unexplained epidemics involving young women. Working on an extra credit assignment on The Crucible, she uncovers what many others have not: Danvers is not the original name of this small Massachusetts town. The stress of graduation has overcome her as well.

What is causing these unusual, abrupt symptoms? Could it be something in the environment at the school poisoning them? Or perhaps, is it somehow tied to the town’s dark history?Ĭolleen Rowley is one of the students immersed in this chaos. With reason, students, their parents, and faculty are all on edge. Soon, other girls begin exhibiting strange symptoms, including hair loss, seizures, and violent coughing fits. Then one day the school’s most popular girl, Clara Rutherford, breaks out into uncontrollable ticks in the middle of class. The students are expected to take this pressure all in stride. Joan’s Academy, a private school in Danvers, Massachusetts, are wrapped up in the stress of their final year of school prior to graduation.

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (July 1, 2014).

This week’s featured title is Conversion by Katerine Howe:

Frightful Friday: Conversion by Katherine HoweĪugJenn Frightful Friday, Mystery/Suspense, Putnam Juvenile, Review, Supernatural, YA 4įrightful Friday is a weekly meme in which I feature a particularly scary or chilling book that I’ve read that week.