Hester Bidgood: Investigatrix of Evill Deedes - Hardcover

Grade 5-7-When someone brands old Goody Willson's gray cat with a red-hot iron cross, the people of Willow Bend are frightened into believing that God made the mark and that Goody is a witch. Young Hester Bidgood and her Indian-raised friend, Rob MacGregor, are determined to discover who is really responsible for the evil deed before the hysteria that gripped Salem takes over their village as well. This tightly woven, well-researched, action-packed mystery with realistic dialogue and stand-out characters is an exciting read for children interested in this aspect of colonial American history.
Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4-6. Hester Bidgood lives in a seventeenth-century New England village somewhere south of Salem. When an elderly woman's cat is mauled and branded with the sign of the cross, villagers talk about witchcraft. Hester and her friend Rob decide there's a simpler explanation and form a sort of Nancy Drew-Ned Nickerson union to find it. There are some hints of an affection developing between Rob, raised as a captive child among local Indians, and Hester, who is teaching Rob to read, and Hildick deals with name-calling and shows how rapidly rumors of witchery spread during the time, but the search for clues to the mystery is the story's major emphasis. Mary Harris Veeder