The Witch of Blackbird Pond

by Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is the simple story of Kit, a wealthy girl from Barbados whose last family member on the island dies. She stows away on a ship to Connecticut to find her mother's sister, and encounters a way of life that is completely foreign to her.

This was one of my very favorite books as a kid, and I'm quite certain I read it ten-plus times. I was a little hesitant to reread it as an adult, for fear that some of its magic would now be lost on me. Instead, it felt like having lunch with an old friend.

I LOVE Kit Tyler. She was my hero as a girl, and she's my hero now. It's interesting to think about what little me must have seen in her. She's brave. She's generous. She's headstrong, but she knows when to call it quits. She's loyal, practical, and hard-working. She's stubborn and a little bit arrogant. She hates the snow, and because of her, I still have an unfulfilled dream of visiting Barbados one day.

Even though it has been many, many years since I last read this book, I knew exactly what was going to happen when Prudence dropped her doll in the water. That scene, among many others, was burned in my mind. That's good storytelling, and that's good writing.

In the After

by Demitria Lunetta

Amy is living in a world that has been destroyed by scary green creatures that eat humans.THEY are really fast, and really nasty. She only survived because her mom, presumed dead, was paranoid, and had many years ago had their house surrounded by an electric fence. That seems to keep THEM away. One day, on a supply run, she comes across Baby, a toddler that she takes home with her and begins to think of as a little sister. For years, they survive on their own, but it doesn't last forever, and they eventually have to leave, taking them on to another place that seems safer on the surface. But is it just danger in another form?

Granted, there are some serious plot inconsistencies. For example... Amy is worried about the sound her breathing makes while she runs on a treadmill. Has Lunetta ever run on a treadmill? Cause they are loud. You know, with the foot pounding and all. THEY have supersonic hearing and could possibly hear her breathing. But they won't hear the running? I don't get it.

But... despite many eye rolling moments, I found myself kind of obsessed with this book, and involved enough that from time to time I got startled any time I heard a noise while reading. I really did find myself pulled into this world. Characterization? Eh. But as far a plot tension goes, she nailed it. I powered through it, and was extremely irritated with myself that I finished it on a Friday and had to wait until Monday to check out the sequel.