Witness by Karen Hesse

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It had been a few years since I'd read Karen Hesse's book Witness, so I took it home over the weekend to review the story. This novel written in verse is set in a small town in Vermont, 1924, and explores the lives of 11 "cast members." The conflict of prejudice pervades throughout the book as the Ku Klux Klan moves into the area to influence townspeople and threaten characters like Wright Sutter and his daughter Leanora, two African-Americans, and the Hirsches, a Jewish father and daughter from New York City. We hear not just from Leanora and Esther Hirsch points of view but also from town constable Percelle Johnson, clergyman Johnny Reeves, and shop owners Harvey and Viola Pettibone. My favorite character became Sara Chickering, a no-nonsense 42 year old single woman, who allows the Hirsches to board in her farmhouse. As she spends time with and gets to know 6-year old Esther, her heart softens and she recognizes "how silent" her "world would be without esther." Each character adds his/her views of the uncertainty and hatred that slowly invades the town; each character is a witness to what occurs.

As I reread the book, its verse style and "haunting voices," as the back of Hesse's book notes, reminded me of my high school teaching days when my students and I studied Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.  One by one Hesse's characters paint a picture of the struggles of the characters and the time period, just as Masters' collection of poems do.

At first glance, readers may judge Hesse's novel to be an "easy" read.  However, each character is complex, and Hesse's simple yet beautiful language helps readers uncover each person's strengths and flaws.  Some of the content is mature, so with younger readers, teachers may want to prepare students for what they will encounter.

Bloody Times by James. L. Swanson

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Last year I read Swanson's Chasing Lincoln's Killer, a terrific book for young Lincoln buffs, so I looked forward to reading Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis.  After briefly chronicling the final days of the Civil War, some of Lincoln's final acts as President, and Davis' decision to leave his presidential quarters in Virginia, Swanson takes an in-depth look at the preparations for and carrying out of Lincoln's funeral procession by train and Davis' somewhat slow-paced retreat to avoid capture.

I am fairly familiar with the events surrounding Lincoln's assassination, thanks in part to Chasing Lincoln's Killer.  I knew that Lincoln's body was carried by train to its final resting place, but Swanson captured the magnitude of the trip - the level of preparation, the number of stops, and the overwhelming response by the U.S. citizens - so that I was taken back in time to mourn Lincoln's loss.  One part that stood out for me was the fact that Lincoln's youngest son Tad did not really get to say good-bye to his father, not while he was on his deathbed and not during the train trip to Lincoln's final resting place.  Part of me understands that his mother was probably trying to protect her son, yet I wonder how Tad felt about being so sheltered during the hours and days prior to and after his father's death.  Swanson also included the comforting note Lincoln had written to a young girl, Fanny McCullough, whose father had been killed during the Civil War.  "In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares. ... You can not now realize that you will ever feel better.  Is not this so?  And yet it is a mistake.  You are sure to be happy again."  After my cousin's mother was killed in a car accident many years ago, I remember reading these exact words in one of the messages she had received from her family and friends.  On so many occasions, Lincoln spoke what his people were feeling and/or thinking.

As I read Jefferson Davis' story, I realized that he, too, was a man of high principle, who believed in his cause and loved his family.  I was expecting even more drama surrounding his capture when it finally came and wonder if things might have turned out differently if he had left the campsite, where he had met up with his wife, earlier.  I'd forgotten about the stories of how Davis had been dressed as he tried to escape and was intrigued by the various visual depictions of what he had been wearing (read the book to refresh your own memory).

Swanson's book smoothly intertwines the two men's stories, leaving me with additional admiration for Lincoln and a better understanding of Davis' beliefs and character.