Witch of Blackbird Pond Book Review - 12 Days of Christmas #11

Just finished this modern classic last night, and I had so many thoughts about it, that here we are.
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Outro song by Future James:
• Dotan Negrin & Prismat...

[@katiemcneece9291]

If The Witch of Blackbird Pond had been written now I believe slavery would have been written into the story in a very different way than in the 1950s pre civil rights era in which it was penned. It is always interesting to me how the author's own time in history affects the historical fiction being written and how they portray events.

[@AnneEWilliamson]

That is such a good point! Authors writing in different times of history focus on different things.

[@mame-musing]

Read this several decades ago when I was in fifth grade. I remember absolutely none of the plot. Thanks for refreshing my memory. I liked it at the time and I’m sure I read it for the story and was unaware of what may have been lacking in terms of social commentary. I would be curious to know how a 5th grader in 2022 would react to it.

[@AnneEWilliamson]

Interesting point. I definitely think different children from different years will have varying reactions to the book!

[@SDYoungren]

Well, it wasn't such a happy ending for Prudence's mother . . .
When the book was first published in 1958, civil rights were not universally approved of in the United States. Making abolition a major point of the story would have made it unpopular in parts of the country, and it would probably have been banned. I don't know how concerned the author was about that kind of trouble, but certainly society was different then. Now we expect such stands to be taken; then, these things weren't often put into children's books. That would have been unpleasant. We didn't yet have Judy Blume to chip away the sugar coatings.
Besides, in Aunt Rachel's house this would have been moot. The family couldn't afford slaves, and the girls would have been expected to keep their thoughts on God and porridge lumps.
Thanks for the video; nice to hear your thoughts on a read several times as a kid (1970 or so--yeah, things were different then).

[@AnneEWilliamson]

Ha, though I would argue that Prudence's mother didn't get the punishment she deserved for trying to in essence get Kit killed. At least she didn't succeed, but I can't imagine having such a cruel mother! Poor Prudence! And that is true, though certain books published in the 50s and before did deal with rights of black people, but I can understand why Speare wouldn't bring race into a book when she was focusing on other themes more. I wish I had read this book as a child, because I think I would have loved it all that much more!