Book Description: With a magical amulet in hand, three friends are whisked back in time to the Salem witch hunts, a terrible time in our history. When Tituba, the Parris' slave, secretly teaches the children a lot more than housekeeping, like voodoo, fortunes, and spell casting, it leads to utter ... more

Book Description: With a magical amulet in hand, three friends are whisked back in time to the Salem witch hunts, a terrible time in our history. When Tituba, the Parris' slave, secretly teaches the children a lot more than housekeeping, like voodoo, fortunes, and spell casting, it leads to utter chaos in the village. Ultimately, Emily, Megan, and Ben uncover a hidden secret which may alter the course of history. Can they get the villagers to see what's really causing the fits and tantrums before they get accused of being witches themselves? Follow the friends on a fantastic adventure as they uncover a mystery when they travel back in time. Maria's Space Review: I love about what D.L. does with the story which is exactly what I loved about Shape of Mercy (which was oddly enough the same characters and I reviewed just a few weeks ago) is that the authors take a story from history and weave in fictional characters to make the story modern and more appealing. Most children aren't interested in history, it is bland, wordy and sometimes hard to understand. But alter it, make it current and it becomes interesting. D.L.'s take on the Witch Hunts and how things could be interrupted was brilliant. It is the way kids would think and act if they suddenly found themselves inserted in a different time (if this could ever happen). I love how the children reacted to their conditions, surroundings, food, and education on the mill. It is a well written, interesting story and textbook in one. What I think is great about the marriage of fiction and non-fiction mix-ups is that, these stories open the readers mind to research further. To find out more about the non-fiction part of the story because now they know some of the players. Knowledge is power and getting kids to read books in a world of technology is hard, but making it fun and entertaining, brings out the researcher in all of us. Great book for ages 8-14.