As another reviewer, Karen, points out, it's almost impossible to figure out who this book would appeal to. Actually, I kind of liked it, so maybe I'm the ideal reader.But it's considered children's lit, and yet it strikes me as the kind of children's lit that teachers really like and children have to suffer through.Witness is about a small Vermont community torn apart by the appearance of the KKK. It is narrated by 11 different people and written in verse. I enjoyed the verse form, but I can't imagine many kids who would. The narration was very frustrating, though; I spent the entire book going back to the two-page cast of characters cheat-sheet, which includes photographs (like the Miss Pettigrew books, I think, the author found some old photos that could date to 1924, the year the "story" occurs). And for the first half, it was just frustrating and annoying. Then I got accustomed to it and familiar with the characters and didn't mind so much.I enjoyed the differences in the characters' voices, but again, it was frustrating and annoying trying to figure out why little 6-year-old Esther Hirsch speaks so strangely: "i did first meet sara chickering / when i had comings here last year / to be a fresh air girl in vermont." We never find out why Esther, who is a sort of angelic mystic, speaks that way, and in a traditional novel it could have worked well, but here it was just strange and confusing for at least 3/4 of the story. And even then, there's no explanation of Esther, and although I enjoyed her character, I didn't believe it for a minute. Too stylized, not at all believable. I learned a few things about the KKK: I didn't realize that they did things like offer money to poor (white) people, and take baskets of food and things like that. They also enforced moral behavior, as they saw it, of course. SPOILER: (view spoiler)[One character, sympathetic to the KKK, has "KKK" branded on their back for engaging in immoral behavior. (hide spoiler)]
Witness by Karen Hesse is an amazing book. It takes place in 1924, where racial hate is a big topic in the town. Life is hard for everyone in the town, especially six year-old Esther Hirsch, who is jewish, and Leonora Sutter, who is black. The town has many different people in it, all telling their stories through poems and sometimes even one paragraph. In this book, Leonora and Esther both live with their father and have no mother. They form an unlikely friendship when Esther stands on train tracks, trying to catch the "heaven train" to get to her mother, who has passed away. The train doesn't realize Esther is there, keeps going at full speed and would have hit Esther if Leonora, who was just watching, hadn't jumped into action and sprang at Esther. Both girls made it out alive, but Leonora had a few nasty scratches. That episode created a bond between the young girl and the older girl, both motherless targets for the KKK.I would recommend this book for anybody who likes historical fiction. The book is extremely well written, and with eleven different characters all here to tell their tale, it may make you feel just like a Witness.ACADEMIC HONESTY--By pasting this statement, I am indicating that I read the book, and the information on this page is accurate.
What do You think about Witness (2003)?
So I loved this book. It wasn't quite as good as Out of the Dust, but there is a reason that one won the Newberry. I love the multiple viewpoints, which really work to show all the sides of the town: that people who are judged feel, why prejudice and hatred may appeal to some, the way we can be fooled by so many smokescreens. I thought Karen Hesse's poetry was very good, flowing flawlessly, listen: "i felt that old rope of dread/ dragging up the ridge of my spine//daddy', i say". My only real issue with this book is that no word is capitalized, ever. I don't know if that was to create a stream-of-consciousness feel or what, but I thought it was a poor editing choice.
—Tristan
Strategy #1-Preview I read the front and the back of the book. After reading the back of the book I could tell what the story was going to be about. Its a novel by newbery medalists. “This lyrical novel powerfully records waves of change and offers insightful glimpses into the hearts of victims, their friend and their enemies” (Publishers weekly, starred review).Strategy #2-Use prior knowledgeAs I started reading this book I didn't know much of the stuff they were talking about. The text is in a poem format. “Its sorry state, neighbor,its a pitiful state of affairs when a colored preachercan lure good white folk from their hearths” (Hesse 14).Strategy #3-PredictThe story changes a lot. It was hard to predict what was going to happen next. Almost every page is something different. One section is a person talking. “I do miss my momma and her summer skin” (Hesse 74).Strategy #4-VisualizeAt the bagging of the book there is a picture of every character. So as I was reading the text I would visualize a picture of the character. “Only the little girl from new york,esther,that funny talking kid,only esther didn't mind bout me being colored” (Hesse 3).Strategy #5- ConnectI can not connect to a whole lot on this book. When they had racial issues I was not alive. The only things I can connect with this book is the stuff I have learned. The people mattered of what color you were. you had separate bathrooms and different sections on the bus. “I never had a colored girl in my kitchen before” (Hesse 12).
—Sam Prisbe
I first read this in elementary school and loved it, then read it again recently for my Young Adult Literature class and loved it even more. It reads almost like a play, with each character (all residents of a small Vermont town in 1924) telling their version of events (the Ku Klux Klan rolling in and starting to recruit) in free verse. Characters include the local preacher, a twelve-year-old black girl, the town doctor, the sheriff, a six-year-old Jewish girl, and a woman who runs liquor. Amazing, scary, and beautiful. Read for: Social Justice in Young Adult Literature
—Madeline
