Witness

Bibliography

Hesse, Karen. 2001. WITNESS. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0606274537.

Plot Summary

This verse novel is set in 1924 Vermont in a town that is being torn apart as the Ku Klux Klan moves in and stirs up trouble in the community. The story is told from various points of view, including those who are in the most danger, Leanora Sutter, a 12 year old African American girl, and Esther Hirsch a six year old Jewish girl. The town’s allegiances are split between the appeal of “the good American men” of the KKK and their personal convictions about humanity, religion, and their very own neighbors. In the end, after violence and struggle, it appears the town has come to its senses, and driven the Klan out of their lives.

Critical Analysis

Hesse does a wonderful job of letting the reader into the hearts and minds of the eleven characters featured in Witness. There is no rhyme to this poetry, it is written in free verse, and flows like dialogue, “Only the little girl from new york, Esther, that funny talking kid, only Esther didn’t mind about me being colored.” This verse novel is easy to read, and to follow the progress of this community as they struggle to overcome prejudice, violence, and ignorance.

Review Excerpt(s)

School Library Journal – “Remarkable and powerful…a thoughtful look at people and their capacity for love and hate.”

Kirkus Reviews - “What Copland created with music, and Hopper created with paint, Hesse deftly and unerringly creates with words.”

Connections

*Other books of poetry by Karen Hesse
OUT OF THE DUST. ISBN 0590360809
COME ON, RAIN. ISBN 0590331256
THE MUSIC OF DOLPHINS. ISBN 0590897985