Tituba of Salem Village [Paperback]

Ann Petry (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Tituba, the minister's slave, gazed into the stone watering trough. She did not see her own reflection. Instead, she saw a vision of herself, surrounded by angry people. The people were staring ather. Their faces showed fear.

That was several years ago. It is now 1692, and there is strange talk in Salem Village. Talk of witches. Several girls have been taken with fits, and there is only one explanation: Someone in the village has been doing the devil's work. All eyes are on Tituba, the one person who can tell fortunes with cards, and who can spin a thread so fine it must be magic. Did Tituba see the future that day at the watering trough? If so, Could she actually be hanged for practicing witchcraft?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Published almost 30 years ago, this compelling novel concerns a girl brought from her native Barbados to be a slave in 17th-century Salem, and is suspected by the villagers of practic ing witchcraft. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The reader will be carried along by the sheer excitement of the story." -- --Madeleine L'Engle, The New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (October 20, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006440403X
• ISBN-13: 978-0064404037
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Read, February 6, 2002

By 

Omni - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tituba of Salem Village (Paperback)

Tituba

This book, published in the early sixties centers around a slave woman who during the Salem Witch Trials is tried as a witch. While the book itself is written in a fashion that made me wonder if I were reading something intended for young adults, it does hold water. The story is reasonably compelling and has enough intricacies of characters and betrayals to engage the reader. It telegraphs itself from a mile away, yes, that simplicity of form making it a story that doesn’t demand nor deceive.

Tituba comes across as not so much foolish but as trapped by her circumstances. She is the property of a family, lead by a reverend of stern character in charge of white children who know that they have power over their adult caretaker. The mistress of the house spends all of her time sick and therefore powerless so the role of caretaker without authority falls to Tituba. For a book set during slavery, the subject of personal freedom isn’t addressed here because that’s not what this book is about. It’s about a further removal of rights and personal power through the witch-hunts. Tituba, through a series of first seemingly innocent events and then gradually darker, is trapped to becoming a witch on trial. Only when she is accused of being a witch does it really grind home the trap that slavery has her in. She cannot flee, she barely has rights to speak up for herself and because of race, is already half-condemned. It becomes literally her slave workman skills that bring her “friends” who will testify on her behalf, give her value over the other women on trial who are merely seen as witches.

This book is an easy read, less than a couple of hours, closer to being like a short story in it’s simplistic form and intent. The adventure of the read is the twist ending. Being a slave saves Tituba so that she can return to slavery. A dark irony that strikes home when one begins comparing what was the greater evil and how one evil can save a person from another by enshrouding them. Here, slavery is a helper, unfortunately. Luckily, it is made clear by the force of witch-hunt story that this is not a book about slavery, pro or con. It is about a woman, a Black woman, who is a slave in a culture that persecutes all of its inhabitants in any way possible for being different or having new ideas. In the end, this book is about the cruelty of humans, in so many forms---bigotry, misogyny, racism, etc..

Four stars

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Factual details likely in error, February 16, 2000

By 

Jerry C. Finlinson (Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tituba of Salem Village (Paperback)

While the book was well written and interesting, many of the factual details seem to disagree with current information on the Salem Witch Trial Websites. Likely, because it was written in 1964, much scholarly research has uncovered new information. So don't use it as your only source on this topic. errors in childhood, marriage, background and other things.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars KCS Slave Witch, January 12, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Tituba of Salem Village (Paperback)

Tituba of Salem Village
Ann Petry Harper Trophy, 1964, 254 pp., $5.99
ISBN 0-66-440403-x


He went on beating her and went on shouting, "Say that you're a witch."
"Master, stop. What is it you want me to say?" she said distinctly.
"Say that you're a witch."
"Very well master. I am a witch."

Tituba is a strong and talented black slave who is sold to a minister's needy family. Now, she must take care of her sickly mistress, sly eight-year-old Abigail Wiliams, little frightened Betsey, and impossible Reverend Parris. While living in Salem Village, Tituba, Abigail, and Betsey meet a group of boundgirls who find out that Tituba can tell fortunes. The girls did not want to get into trouble by their masters, so they began throwing fits and blaming Tituba, saying she bewitched them. To find out if Tituba takes the blame for the girls, read Tituba of Salem Village.

This historical fiction book teaches you not to get involved with gossip and not to bury your mistakes with lies. Ann Petry adds excitement to the story by leaving the reader interested about how people in court reached their verdicts and believed spectral evidence. I would recommend this book to people interested in the Salem Witch Trials and who would enjoy a book with a great lesson and exciting plot.