The Witches of Worm

Title: Witches of Worm

Genre: Fiction / “Banned Book”

Author: Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell

Publication Date: 1972

ISBN: 0-440-497272-2

Awards: 1973 Newbery Honor

Plot: With her beautiful mother forever more out on a date with her boyfriend, and her former best friend living his life without her, Jessica is lonely enough to bring home a kitten that looks like a worm.  Jessica is reading up on witchcraft and begins to wonder if maybe the cat is more than it seems.  Convinced the cat is telling her to do mean things, Jessica attempts to exorcise Worm, but manages to free her own soul in the process.

Audience: 10 and up, reader needs to be able to handle “creepy”

Uses: This book could be used to introduce the Salem Witch trials in history class; Or it might help draw connections with kids struggling with the separation of boy/girl friendships that often happen at puberty.  “Latchkey” kids, as antiquated as that term might be, might be reassured to know that other children come home to empty houses and find themselves alone on weekends when their parents are off enjoying themselves.

Strengths: Although the book is 40 years old, the story is ageless.  A single working mother, a preteen girl who lives in an apartment with a nosy landlady and boy learning to play the trumpet could all be true in 2012.  I also enjoyed the fact that Jessica wasn’t always likeable, in fact I disliked her a time or three.  It was easier to see her growth.

Weakness: Aside from Jessica, most of the other characters are very flat.  Her mother, the neighbors and even her friends are not fleshed out and it makes the story feel very much like they only exist so Jessica can be mean to them.

Read Alikes: The Egypt Game (1967) Newbery Honor Book also by Zilpha Keatley Snyder; One-Eyed Cat (1984) Newberry Honor Book by Paula Fox; The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1958) Newberry Medal Book by Elizabeth George Speare