An Outbreak of Witchcraft is something of a mixed bag for me. Mostly leaning positive, but I had some issues with it.

To start with what I liked. The art style was really enjoyable, and laid things out really well. I especially liked that the book opens with several pages of portraits of the figures that are the primary focus here with their names and descriptions so you can keep track of who's who in something where so many figures played an important role. I think the prose introduction to each section of the book before delving into telling the story in the comics format works well and helps add to the context. I liked how it showed that even within the context of its own time, the events that transpired were not considered acceptable in a broader context, giving us a glimpse at the dissenters as well as the ways that the legal system at the time would not (and eventually did not) condone how the courts in Salem were operating, essentially denying a fair trial to many who were executed. I liked that it provides some broader context for how colonial rule worked and impacted the witch trials, as well as other "witch" cases in the colonies. I also like how it shapes it into a linear narrative.

Now, the back of the book says the book is narrative nonfiction, but inside the book on the copyright page it says that it is historical fiction. I really take issue with this, especially in a YA book where readers aren't necessarily going to interrogate what that means. To me this very clearly seems like nonfiction that edits some parts for brevity and adds imagined conversations in other parts to make it easier to connect with figures who otherwise don't have many recorded moments from the time. This is common in YA and children's nonfiction to make it more accessible for younger readers, and there are ways of saying this without being weird by having the back and interior contradict each other and make the entire thing unclear.

As for things about the book itself that I took issue with. I think the way Indigenous people are represented is definitely off. We don't actually spend that much time with John Indian or Tituba, both of whom were Indigenous, and when we do the focus is on their deception to stay alive, without delving into what that means too much. When Indigenous people are talked about, it's only in terms of raids against white colonists, many of whom are in this community and suffered from the trauma of surviving these events. I don't think it's entirely responsible to portray this without addressing the harm colonialism was doing to Indigenous people at the time and the complex realities that led to these raids, especially in a book that's intended for younger readers who may not know to interrogate this. I also think that tribal identities are always relevant when discussing Indigenous people, and only Tituba's background is mentioned. John Indian's background is not known, but this is not mentioned. It also does not mention the backgrounds of any raiders. Now to be clear, I'm not suggesting that simply saying that these things happened is a problem, I just feel like a few additional notes throughout the book could have improved clarity for younger readers using this as an educational source and preventing them from taking a prejudiced view that is often too common. Beyond any of these issues, I also wish that the book had taken the time to discuss more of the signs of witches, what witchcraft looked like, etc to Puritans, which doesn't really get enough ink considering how relevant it is to what the accusers had to say. I also wish that international witch trials had warranted a paragraph or two, particularly considering that the witch trials in Sweden are mentioned on multiple occasions, but this is never expanded upon, and this wouldn't be common knowledge to an English-speaking audience. I also would have liked to see more on the aftermath, or even on the cultural impact the trials have had. I feel like an additional couple dozen pages could have given the book a little more time to expand upon these under-explored aspects.

Overall, I think this book has a lot going for it, and it makes for decently educational reading, but I think it has enough problems that I would hesitate to recommend it to someone who had no knowledge going in. I think it's still worth the read for anyone who can engage with this work critically.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for gifting me an advanced reader copy!

This book was very interesting! I don’t think im the target audience but i definitely enjoyed it! The Salem witch trials are my Roman Empire and I’ll take any opportunity to read more about it. I think the art style was very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. It being a graphic novel I think will make it easier for younger kids to understand the materials and a great introduction to it!
There did seem to be some gaps and a disconnect but I think overall it was pretty good!

I really loved the artwork for this one! It was a super informational and a very cool look into the Salem Witch trials. So I loved that aspect of it. However, even though I enjoyed the informational aspect of it, I think the actual storytelling was a little iffy. It moved really slowly at the beginning and there were also some parts in the middle that lagged, which made this really short graphic novel feel much longer than it was. Beautiful artwork though, which helped the story come alive

This was a fantastic read. I learned so much and I really enjoyed the story. The artwork was also fantastic.

A fantastic Young Adult Graphic novel! I found An Outbreak of Witchcraft a very intriging story and easy to read.

Did I request this because I’ve always had an eerie fascination with the witch trials of the world? Why yes I did. I don’t know when this became a topic of interest to me, but it was either junior high or high school, but I do remember being assigned a project in World History during my second year of high school and declaring that I was going to do my paper on the witch trials…only to have my teacher tell me that I needed to pick a world topic, and the Salem Witch Trials wouldn’t qualify. Cue up me retorting with the fact that there were more witch trials than just what occurred in Salem, and I was only planning a few paragraphs on Salem after covering the events in other regions.

This graphic novel runs us through the events of the Salem Witch Trials, and has a few pages of just text, giving some of the basics of what happened and who was involved and other details that might be a little more difficult to fit into panel-ed storytelling. Then we have a majority of the book split up into the various panels like one would expect from a comic or graphic novel, which gives a more narrative and visual depiction of the events.

So we get to see those within Salem Village having fits and accusing neighbors. We get to witness the trials and some of the sermons and meetings. It allows us to view these historical events as if we were watching something more like a movie or TV mini series. Instead of just facts and figures and discussions, the information is given as if telling a story.

Honestly, this is still just such a mind-boggling time in the history of the world, thinking to all the hysteria and the wild accusations, leading to all the pain and fear and trauma and death. It was a time of neighbor turning against neighbor. What we see in the graphic novel is pretty much all of the accusers saying the exact same things as proof of the wrongdoing of the accused. It was basically always the same specters and visions with practically no deviation.

Obviously there’s no way to know exactly what was going on in these people’s minds and hearts during this, but from the outside perspective of someone living centuries later, you can see how one person makes a statement or an accusation and then others pick up on specific phrases and just begin repeating and reciting them over and over, using them as truth and gospel against anyone they might not like or believe to be different.

While this read VERY quickly, because it is a graphic novel and only a couple hundred pages, thinking about the Salem Witch Trials is something that lingers because it is so terrible and troubling.

I have read several books about the Salem witch trials. This one fits well enough. The artwork was nice, but the writing at times was a little over the top and wordy.

This was a wonderful read, especially because I always love reading about the Salem Witch Trials, as it is something I am rather interested in. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a good time at all; those involved were wrongly accused and it was a horrible event that took many innocent lives.
But it is something we should certainly be educated about, and this book does a wonderful job of doing that, with added detail and amazing artwork you won’t soon forget! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who doesn’t know much about the history of the Trials, and for anyone who just has a special interest in historical events and stories retold!

This is a well told and illustrated account of the Salem Witch Trials. This version doesn't sensationalize the trials, but rather gives a timeline of the events those involved and how it all came to an end. I found the text of the e-book to be blurry and hard to read on multiple devices. Fortunately I can confirm that the text is very readable in the final print format. Recommended for all teen graphic novel collections.

Historical, well-researched, and factual. The Salem witchcraft trials lend themselves well to graphic novel form as there are so many characters, many with similar names, and such a biased view that illustrations really help explain why the girls did what they did, and how people could get so swept up in the accusations. This was a new medium for the story, but Deborah Noyes kept the story true to the original. My only qualm was that the text was very small and difficult to read. This may deter some struggling readers.

An adaptation of the Salem Witch Trials, with heavy emphasis on noodling out the motivations of the accusers and the judges who pursued the charges. Before each chapter, we’re given a few pages of just-text to provide vital context to what is about to happen (and what just happened, in the previous chapter). There’s a lot of focus on the interpersonal relationships and old vendettas which lead to some accusations. Also, there’s a really good explanation of the social strata in Salem, and how certain people were accused due to their race or for being orphaned or otherwise without family.

There’s a disturbing energy and chaos in the drawings of those supposedly in the throes of a witch’s torture. Harsh colors, messy streaks, physical contortions. As much as the book gives the reasons WHY this was done, and how the accusations were completely baseless, the depictions of the torture acts shows HOW EASY it was to convince onlookers that it was all real.

And, even in the more calm moments, there’s a lot of emotion on the faces of the cast. Whether it be the fear of the accused, the smugness of accuser in repose, or the barely withheld conniving of the sentencer. Illustrator Duffy put in some WORK here, and gave a great emotional atmosphere to each scene.

The ARC I received for this book had really hard-to-read text. Hopefully that was a problem just because it was an ARC, but definitely take a peek through previews, or actually flip this open if you have it in hand, to make sure it didn’t persist through release.

My one gripe here? We got the start of the Giles Corey crushing…and we didn’t see the “more weight” badassery. And how significant it was, as his refusal to plead guilty meant his estate was not forfeited back to the government. With so much corruption being centered on the victim’s assets, his endurance under torture was impressive. I do believe his words were brought up in one of the all-text sections, but it’s just such a loss to not see the matchup of bravery and ruthlessness.

This is a great pick for the Halloween season, for your generally gruesome kid, or for a history project.

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

3.5. I love history about the Salem witch trial and this graphic novel does a great justice to the history. I just didn’t like the illustrations. I know the comic was designed this way because this is centuries old but i had a hard time reading and following. I love how atmospheric and creepy it was.

Pacing and storytelling were meh. The layout and organization made it hard to follow and get into the story.

I am fascinated by the Salem witch trials but this graphic novel fell short. It felt like a step-by-step recount instead of an actual story. I understand that aspects of the trials were repetitive but this felt like I was going in a circle, repeating the same motions. The art was good but that is about the only thing I enjoyed.

This was a graphic novel that read more like a nonfiction book than a cohesive story. I think for kids this is a good way to learn about the Salem Witch Trials because it would be more engaging than reading a textbook about it. The sections are split up by a larger amount of text without pictures that may be hard for some kids to keep their attention completely through it. The few parts of longer text may be better to read aloud or take turns with. I felt like this graphic novel gives enough information that a kid could have a discussion about what happened and I even learned some things that I hadn't heard as an adult before. The characters in the illustrations were clear enough that I could keep separate in my head and the pictures were engaging enough that I found myself interested throughout the whole book.

This is a great introduction to the Salem Witch Trials. As someone with an understanding of the history already, this was still engaging and I loved the art style. This would work best for audiences without prior knowledge on the subject or those who are interested in a graphic novel format on this topic. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

An Outbreak of Witchcraft was beautifully crafted! The art, the story, the characters- everything was done with such great care to the reality of The Salem Witch Trials. This would be perfect to use in the classroom to get students interested and engaged.

The prejudices and demagoguery actually remind me of people now and that's difficult to put to paper that that many people could be so stupid and myopic. If you don't know anything about the Salem Witch Trials, this is actually a pretty good way to learn about them.

This was a great informational story on the Salem Witch Trials. Ever since reading The Crucible in high school, I've always been interested in it. This is something I'd love to add to my classroom as well! The artwork is very nice, and I loved the colors throughout.

A nicely illustrated book that tells the tale of the the Salem Witch Trials without fictionalizing too terribly much. I enjoyed reading this but I think that this book is more suited for late middle schoolers/early high schoolers who are getting into history and want to learn the basics. I think this book is ideal for anyone who wants to learn more about this subject but may not have the attention or the comprehension to reach some other books like "The Witches" that are more academic in nature.