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  • Witness

Witness

Author
Karen Hesse
Publication Date
April 30, 2019
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  6th − 8th
Language
English
Format
Novel in Verse
Witness
Description

Newbery Medalist Karen Hesse immerses readers in a small Vermont town in 1924 with this haunting and harrowing tale.

Witness joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!

Leanora Sutter. Esther Hirsh. Merlin Van Tornhout. Johnny Reeves...

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, especially the two youngest, twelve-year-old Leanora, an African American girl, and six-year-old Esther, who is Jewish.

In this story of a community on the brink of disaster, told through the haunting and impassioned voices of its inhabitants, Newbery Award winner Karen Hesse takes readers into the hearts and minds of those who bear witness.

Publication date
April 30, 2019
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781338359671
Guided Reading Level
Z
Publisher
Scholastic Inc.
BISAC categories
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JUV016150 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - 20th Century
JUV039120 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Prejudice & Racism
Library of Congress categories
Novels in verse
Young adult fiction
Prejudices
Ku Klux Klan (1915- )
Vermont

Publishers Weekly

PW wrote in our Best Books citation, "Hesse weaves together 11 distinct narrative voices to create a moving account of the Ku Klux Klan's encroachment on a small Vermont town in 1924. Told completely in verse, her quietly powerful novel addresses the inevitable loss of innocence that accompanies the fight for social justice." Ages 9-12. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.
Karen Hesse
Karen Hesse is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of many books for children. Her titles include Witness, The Cats in Krasinski Square, and the Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust, among many others. She lives in Vermont with her husband and two teenaged daughters.
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