Synopses & Reviews
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane comes a chilling mysteryPrep meets The Crucible.
Its senior year at St. Joans Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian, deciphering boys texts: Through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they cant.
First its the schools queen bee, Clara Rutherford, who suddenly falls into uncontrollable tics in the middle of class. Her mystery illness quickly spreads to her closest clique of friends, then more students and symptoms follow: seizures, hair loss, violent coughing fits. St. Joans buzzes with rumor; rumor blossoms into full-blown panic.
Soon the media descends on Danvers, Massachusetts, as everyone scrambles to find something, or someone, to blame. Pollution? Stress? Or are the girls faking? Only Colleenwhos been reading The Crucible for extra creditcomes to realize what nobody else has: Danvers was once Salem Village, where another group of girls suffered from a similarly bizarre epidemic three centuries ago . . .
Inspired by true eventsfrom seventeenth-century colonial life to the halls of a modern-day high schoolConversion casts a spell. With her signature wit and passion, New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe delivers an exciting and suspenseful novel, a chilling mystery that raises the question, whats really happening to the girls at St. Joans?
Review
Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, December 17th 2012 issue:
"...a story thats simultaneously romantic, tragic, horrifying, and transcendental is more than enough to hold readers attention, no matter their age." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
Starred Review, Booklist, December 1st 2012 issue:
"Part love story, part mystery, part horror, this is as much about the twisting hand of fate as it is about the mutability of folk tales. Its strange spell will capture you." - Booklist, starred review
Starred Review, Kirkus, December 1st 2012 issue:
"The Time Travelers Wife meets Lost in this chilling exploration of love and memory . . . Haunting, sophisticated and ultimately exquisite. " -- Kirkus, starred review
Starred Review, BCCB, February 2013 issue:
"Sedgwicks prose is unadorned yet melancholic. . ." -- BCCB, starred review
Starred Review, The Horn Book, March/April 2013 issue:
"Sedgwicks prose is taut, careful, and chilling." -- The Horn Book, starred review
"Reminiscent of David Mitchells Cloud Atlas . . . stark, suspenseful writing." -- School Library Journal
Review
* "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."--
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A simmering blend of relatable high-school drama with a persistent pinprick of unearthliness in the background."--Booklist
"Compelling."--Kirkus Reviews
Review
“Will keep you on the edge of your seat from the moment you pick it up!”—
Huffington Post
“The author has a gift for capturing the teenage mind-set that nears the level of John Green (The Fault in Our Stars), with the bonus of a strong sense of history with the Salem-set melodrama.”—USA Today
“Conjures up a spooky story of afflicted modern-day high school girls alternating with the actual account behind the Salem witch trials. Is it all a cry for attention, mass hysteria, or something truly sinister?”—Family Circle
* "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."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A simmering blend of relatable high-school drama with a persistent pinprick of unearthliness in the background."--Booklist
"Compelling."--Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined--this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice by a three-time Printz Award Honoree.
"Reminiscent of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas . . . stark, suspenseful writing." --School Library Journal
An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.
This title has Common Core connections.
A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013
A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013
Praise for Midwinterblood:
"A story that's simultaneously romantic, tragic, horrifying, and transcendental is more than enough to hold readers' attention, no matter their age." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Part love story, part mystery, part horror, this is as much about the twisting hand of fate as it is about the mutability of folk tales. Its strange spell will capture you." --Booklist, starred review
"The Time Traveler's Wife meets Lost in this chilling exploration of love and memory . . . Haunting, sophisticated and ultimately exquisite." --Kirkus, starred review
"Sedgwick's prose is unadorned yet melancholic. . ." --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
"Sedgwick's prose is taut, careful, and chilling." --The Horn Book, starred review
"Reminiscent of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas . . . stark, suspenseful writing." --School Library Journal
Novels by Marcus Sedgwick:
Saint Death: A propulsive, compelling, and unsparing novel set in the grimly violent world of the human and drug trade on the US-Mexican border.
Blood Red Snow White: A gripping, romantic adventure novel based on the true story of Arthur Ransome's experiences with love and betrayal in war-torn Russia.
The Ghosts of Heaven: A Printz Honor Book Timeless, beautiful, and haunting, spirals connect four episodes, from prehistory through the far future.
She Is Not Invisible: When her father goes missing, a blind girl talented in identifying patterns and her brother are thrust into a mystery.
Midwinterblood: A Printz Medal Winner Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined.
White Crow: A scary, thought provoking novel about secrets that are better left buried.
Revolver: A Printz Honor Book A taut frontier survivor story, set at the time of the Alaska gold rush.
Graphic novel by Marcus Sedgwick, art by Thomas Taylor:
Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter: A rip-roaring romp full of hairy horrors, villainous villains, and introducing the world's toughest monster hunter--Scarlett Hart
Synopsis
Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice.
An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.
A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013
A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013
About the Author
Katherine Howe is the New York Times bestselling author of The Physic Book of Deliverance Dane and The House of Velvet and Glass. She is a lecturer in American Studies at Cornell University. She is also a direct descendant of three women accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials, one who was hanged and two who survived. Her books have been published around the world in twenty-three languages to date.