School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Howe skillfully blends a modern medical mystery based on real events with the historical Salem Witch panic to create an engaging story. The prelude begins with Ann Putnam arriving at her minister's house in Salem, Massachusetts in 1706, finally ready to confess her part in the Panic more than 12 years before. Ann's tale continues in between glimpses into the life of Colleen Rowley, a senior at the exclusive St. Joan's High School of Danvers, Massachusetts in 2012. The pressure in the final semester is intense for Colleen and her classmates, who are all competing for places in top colleges. Her usually uneventful morning is disturbed, first by an apparent seizure of the very popular Clara Rutherford, and then by the unexplained replacement of the young AP History teacher. As the semester continues, more girls fall victim to a panoply of symptoms. Meanwhile, Colleen begins work on a research paper for the history substitute on an actual person absent from Arthur Miller's The Crucible . Amid a growing media circus, diagnoses are offered and then dismissed. The protagonist's research persuades her that the cause of the Salem Witch trials was far from supernatural and that the same "force" might be at work at St. Joan's. The author convincingly writes in the voice of current and historical teens, and major characters undergo significant growth in this intense tale. Howe's use of red herrings and the "ripped from the headlines" narrative will keep readers guessing until the final reveal. Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

As she did in her adult novel The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, Howe draws thrilling connections between the Salem witch trials and the present day in her YA debut. Colleen Rowley and her friends attend St. Joan-s Academy, a private Catholic high school in Boston that caters to girls with Harvard-size aspirations. After Colleen-s classmate Clara has a strange seizure during class, Clara develops shocking, Tourette-s-like verbal and facial tics. The condition soon spreads through the school until there are dozens of girls with inexplicable and divergent symptoms-Colleen-s friend Anjali has started coughing up pins. The school nurse and local medical professionals scroll futilely through diagnoses, and the media descends on St. Joan-s, making life a circus for the girls and their families. Howe gives Colleen a strong and sure voice, while alternating between the present-day action in 2012 and -Interludes- set in Salem Village in 1706. A chilling guessing game of a novel that will leave readers thinking about the power (and powerlessness) of young women in the past and present alike. Ages 12-up. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor. (July)

Horn Book

The girls at St. Joan's Academy are inexplicably falling sick with strange tics and symptoms. As a media maelstrom focuses on the Mystery Illness, Colleen Rowley struggles to graduate valedictorian and complete college applications. This riveting, complex novel transposes the events of The Crucible onto a modern-day setting and weaves a powerful mystery that will keep readers invested until the cryptic ending.

ALA Booklist

St. Joan's Academy in Danvers, Massachusetts, a well-to-do private girl's school for the best and brightest, is usually only home to hysteria of the college-admissions kind. But when Clara starts convulsing in class, a media frenzy fixates on the St. Joan's mystery disease. Is it a reaction to the HPV vaccine? Or are students under so much pressure they're beginning to crack? As more and more girls fall ill, Coleen, gunning for valedictorian, researches the Salem witch trials and begins to notice eerie echoes among her peers. Howe, author of the New York Times best-selling The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (2009), returns to similar territory here in her young-adult debut. In propulsive scenes, the story alternates between Coleen in 2012, who narrates the growing atmosphere of intense competition and pressure that is thankfully tempered by some heartening and realistic friendships, and Ann Putnam in 1706, who recounts her complicity during the Salem Panic and comes clean about the girls' accusations of witchcraft. A simmering blend of relatable high-school drama with a persistent pinprick of unearthliness in the background. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With a major motion picture in development, this novel is getting a media campaign to match.

Voice of Youth Advocates

Inspired by actual events from 2012 and paralleling many aspects of The Crucible, Howe presents the reader with a mystery. What could cause young, successful, healthy girls to suddenly become ill without explanation? Four years after her novel, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, Howe once again brings readers into the Salem Witch Trials era. This time, the trials are over, but what does it take to absolve guilt by association? Her new novel is written in alternating chapters that involve different timelines and readers get a glimpse at historical events with a modern twist. Howe is masterful at bringing each protagonist to life within their respective timelines and presenting each with personal dilemmas. For Ann, it's the year 1706, and she has a confession to make. Why she feels the need to confess is the true dilemma the reader will try to figure out. For Colleen, it's 2012 and she needs to watch her GPA to a tenth of a point. What's truly going on at St. Joan's Academy will take readers by surprise.Advanced readers will not be intimidated by the length of this novel nor by the writing style of alternating timelines. This book would be a great companion novel for any curriculum that uses The Crucible as a reading selection and offers obvious comparisons such as theme, symbolism, and character motivation. Secondary characters are crafted to add to the suspense as readers will try to guess how each fits into the overall mystery. Their actions and how they relate to the protagonist can be compared to the play as well. If a student has not read the play before reading this book, they will be asking for it after they finish, as well as reading selections about the historical events. As with her other novels, Howe's writing is suspenseful and effortlessly draws the reader in. On a side note, while the prelude will draw readers into the story, the author's note will fascinate them. This title is highly recommended for all high school libraries.Valerie Burleigh.