Salem Witch Trials: Colonial Life (American History Through Primary Sources)
Grade 4–6—With their simple vocabulary and sentence structure, these books are aimed at students who read well below grade level. Each page has two or three short paragraphs of text.Rosiediscusses the role of American women during World War II both as part of the home-front workforce and in the armed forces. Copies of documents, good photographs, and posters are included. The second title deals with life in Salem and the horrors of the witch hunts in the late 17th century. It includes full-color reproductions. The books do offer some good information, but, because of their hi/lo nature, librarians probably would only want to purchase them where graded materials are needed. For a book on working women during World War II, Penny Colman'sRosie the Riveter(Crown, 1998) can't be beat; books on the Salem Witch Trials abound.—Lynda Ritterman, formerly at Atco Elementary School, NJCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.