Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from the moment she arrives on the unfamiliar shores of colonial Connecticut in 1867. Alone and desperate, she has been forced to leave her beloved home on the island of Barbados and join a family she has never met. Torn between her quest for belonging and her desire to be true to herself, Kit struggles to survive in a hostile place. Just when it seems she must give up, she finds a kindred spirit. But Kit's friendship with Hannah Tupper, believed by the colonists to be a witch, proves more taboo than she could have imagined and ultimately forces Kit to choose between her heart and her duty.
Elizabeth George Speare's Newbery Award–winning novel portrays a heroine whom readers will admire for her unwavering sense of truth as well as her infinite capacity to love.
"I was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, on November 21, 1908. I have lived all my life in New England, and though I love to travel I can't imagine ever calling any other place on earth home. Since I can't remember a time when I didn't intend to write, it is hard to explain why I took so long getting around to it in earnest. But the years seemed to go by very quickly. In 1936 I married Alden Speare and came to Connecticut. Not till both children were in junior high did I find time at last to sit down quietly with a pencil and paper. I turned naturally to the things which had filled my days and thoughts and began to write magazine articles about family living. Then one day I stumbled on a true story from New England history with a character who seemed to me an ideal heroine. Though I had my first historical novel almost by accident it soon proved to be an absorbing hobby."
Elizabeth George Speare (1908-1994) won the 1959 Newbery Medal for THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND, and the 1962 Newbery Medal for THE BRONZE BOW. She also received a Newbery Honor Award in 1983, and in 1989 she was presented with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her substantial and enduring contribution to children's literature.
伊莉莎白·乔治·斯皮尔(Elizabeth George Speare 1908~1994),是美国杰出的儿童文学作家,1908年11月出生在美国马萨诸塞州的梅尔罗斯。她在马萨诸塞州北安普敦的史密斯学院上过一年学,并从波士顿大学获得文科学士学位和硕士学位。她做过多年的中学英文教员,并为杂志社写文章,创作独幕话剧,后来又撰写多部获奖的少年儿童小说。1989年,斯皮尔夫人被授予劳拉·英格尔斯·怀尔德奖章,以表彰她“对儿童文学所做出的杰出而持久的贡献”。 斯皮尔夫人的童年是在马萨诸塞州的森林、原野与海边度过,没有玩伴的她,很早就懂得孤独的好处。也就是这样的环境,奠定了她写作的基础。从小,斯皮尔夫人就喜欢写作,但高中毕业以后,她便没有时间从事这项嗜好了。她在波士顿大学念完学士与硕士学位,接着担任高中英文教师。在英文课堂上,她可以与学生分享她所爱的书籍。
以下为对购买帮助不大的评价