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Witness Karen Hesse 9780439272001 Books

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Witness Karen Hesse 9780439272001 Books

I only read this book as my 12 year old grandson was assigned to read it and remembered the day before it was due, so he ordered it on my Kindle. I liked the pictures in the front. I found the book a little confusing as it went back and forth between characters. I actually read it twice, which was a good thing. I felt it was pretty high level reading for a 12 year old. The topic was interesting. I had no idea that there was a Klan in Vermont. It had some excellent insights into human character.


Tags : Witness [Karen Hesse] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV><BR><BR>Leanora Sutter. Esther Hirsh. Merlin Van Tornhout. Johnny Reeves . . .<BR><BR>These characters are among the unforgettable cast inhabiting a small Vermont town in 1924. A town that turns against its own when the Ku Klux Klan moves in. No one is safe,Karen Hesse,Witness,Scholastic Paperbacks,0439272009,Social Themes - Prejudice & Racism,Ku Klux Klan (1915- ),Novels in verse,Novels in verse.,Prejudices,Prejudices;Fiction.,Vermont,Vermont;Fiction.,CHILDREN'S FICTION GENERAL,Children's BooksAges 9-12 Fiction,Children: Grades 4-6,Fiction,Fiction-General,General fiction (Children's Teenage),JUVENILE FICTION General,JUVENILE FICTION Social Themes Prejudice & Racism,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Grades 4-6 Ages 9-11,Ku Klux Klan,MASS MARKET,United States

Witness Karen Hesse 9780439272001 Books Reviews

Gr. 5-9. As the Klu Klux Klan begins to take hold in a small 1924 Vermont town, its reality is slowly revealed through the observations of a diverse and colorful set of characters. Hesse uses clear and uncluttered free verse to convey the voices of 11 very different citizens who serve as our witnesses to this poignant and timeless story. Two little girls, Leonora Sutter, a 12-year-old black girl, and Esther Hirsh, a 6-year-old Jewish girl, are both new to town, and feel both the sting of the growing racism and the love of supportive friends. Adult characters vary from a preacher filled with fear and self-righteousness, to an 18 year old man who transforms rage to regret. Other characters, including a married couple, demonstrate realistic complications. Using humor at first, the couple half-heartedly argues because the man wants to join but the woman does not. As the situation grows more serious, the couple, and the rest of the town, must take an honest look at the violent and evil things that are beginning to take place. Within the fear and darkness of this book resides hope though, represented by a woman who refuses to send away Esther and her father, even after being threatened, a skinny old white man who stands up to the Klan at the courthouse, and a newspaper man who will not be bullied into whitewashing the Klan's activities with secrecy or lies. This is an excellent look at a very complicated issue that deals with real people.
Happenings in a small Vermont town in 1924 from the perspective of a kaleidoscope of very human characters. Could be incredible as a staged reading.
This book is well written. It speaks of issues in the 1920's that still exist in 2018. Racism & the KKK are alive & active.
I was expecting more of a punch from this story, especially considering some of Hesse's other works. I enjoyed the New England, rural setting and different characters' perspectives, but was waiting for more of an impact from the action. This would be a good text to use for learning more about points-of-view, inferring, and characters, and also to show racial tension in places other than the Civil-War South.
Would love to see this performed..... Loved all the characters. Good and bad.... Aren't we all a little of both? I wonder if people could see the parallels to what is happening in the world today?
The book is a historical fiction that is written almost like a collection of diary entries, featuring a group of characters who speak throughout the book in the form of memories and accounts.
The book is very creative, and though it is a work of fiction, it does represent many true acccounts of human experience.
The setting focuses on the arrival of the KKK in Vermont (yes, in the American Northeast) and how different people react; events that occur; and glimpses into people's reasoning and beliefs.
With guidance from a grown-up, young readers will be able to appreciate the matter of the book, while older readers should certainly appreciate the authors interesting means of conveying the information and insight.
I purchased this for my grandson. It was on his summer reading list. The set up is different in that it has a different speaker on just about every page and it is presented in a poetic manner. The message is powerful and I'm sure that this will lead to interesting discussion in his 7th grade English class.
I only read this book as my 12 year old grandson was assigned to read it and remembered the day before it was due, so he ordered it on my . I liked the pictures in the front. I found the book a little confusing as it went back and forth between characters. I actually read it twice, which was a good thing. I felt it was pretty high level reading for a 12 year old. The topic was interesting. I had no idea that there was a Klan in Vermont. It had some excellent insights into human character.