THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND, by Elizabeth George SpeareIndieBound Description: Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft!
My Thoughts: We read this book in elementary school as assigned reading and I remember being surprised how much I liked it! The story has stayed with me all these years, I even remember the descriptions of Kit's smooth, silk dresses. What I don't remember is the cover of the book, which I know was nothing like the one here. I have a mixed feelings about this cover. It's eyecatching and I can see how it would attract a modern reader, but I feel like Kit looks like a contemporary teenager in a costume. I think it's that small smirk on her face, she seems a bit too self-aware.