In 1659, fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from England to the New World and her experiences living as a witch in a community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts.
In the 1980s, a series of child sex abuse cases rocked the United States. The most famous case was the 1984 McMartin preschool case, but there were a number of others as well. By the latter part of the decade, the assumption was widespread that child sex abuse had become a serious problem in America. Yet within a few years, the concern about it died down considerably. The failure to convict anyone in the McMartin case and a widely publicized appellate decision in New Jersey that freed an accused molester had turned the dominant narrative on its head. In the early 1990s, a new narrative with remarkable staying power emerged: the child sex abuse cases were symptomatic of a 'moral panic' that had produced a witch hunt. A central claim in this new witch hunt narrative was that the children who testified were not reliable and easily swayed by prosecutorial suggestion. In time, the notion that child sex abuse was a product of sensationalized over-reporting and far less endemic than originally thought became the new common sense. But did the new witch hunt narrative accurately represent reality? As Ross Cheit demonstrates in his exhaustive account of child sex abuse cases in the past two and a half decades, purveyors of the witch hunt narrative never did the hard work of examining court records in the many cases that reached the courts throughout the nation. Instead, they treated a couple of cases as representative and concluded that the issue was blown far out of proportion. Drawing on years of research into cases in a number of states, Cheit shows that the issue had not been blown out of proportion at all. In fact, child sex abuse convictions were regular occurrences, and the crime occurred far more frequently than conventional wisdom would have us believe. Cheit's aim is not to simply prove the narrative wrong, however. He also shows how a narrative based on empirically thin evidence became a theory with real social force, and how that theory stood at odds with a far more grim reality. The belief that the charge of child sex abuse was typically a hoax also left us unprepared to deal with the far greater scandal of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, which, incidentally, has served to substantiate Cheit's thesis about the pervasiveness of the problem. In sum, The Witch-Hunt Narrative is a magisterial and empirically powerful account of the social dynamics that led to the denial of widespread human tragedy.
Help Messy Witch tidy up your book in this interactive Halloween treat from Tom Fletcher - now available as a board book! HOCUS POCUS! There's a witch in your book and she's making a terrible mess. Can you use your own magic to show Messy Witch who's boss and help her keep your book tidy? A brilliantly interactive picture book from bestselling author Tom Fletcher - now available as a board book. Who's in Your Book? Interactive adventures for big imaginations Also in this series: There's a Monster in Your Book: makes reading interactive and fun There's a Dragon in Your Book: explores empathy and responsibility There's an Alien in Your Book: explores acceptance and inclusion There's an Elf in Your Book: explores following instructions and good/bad behaviour There's a Superhero in Your Book: explores the power of kindness There's a Unicorn in Your Book: explores soothing your worries through sharing them There's a Bear in Your Book: makes the bedtime routine fun
From Parks and Recreation star Aubrey Plaza and creative partner Dan Murphy comes the long lost tale of the Christmas Witch, Santa Claus's much misunderstood twin sister. The perfect gift for the holiday season and beyond! Gather ‘round the fire to hear a Christmas legend that has never been told before...until now. Each year a mysterious figure sweeps into town, leaving behind strange gifts in the night. No, not Santa Claus, but his sister… The Christmas Witch. Her story begins many, many years ago when her brother was torn away from her as a child. Raised alone by a witch of the woods, Kristtörn's powers of magic grew, as did her temper. Determined to find her long lost twin, she set out on a perilous journey across oceans to find him. But what she found instead was a deep-seated fear of her powers and a confrontation that would leave the fate of Christmas hanging in the balance. From award-winning producer and actress Aubrey Plaza and her creative partner Dan Murphy comes a holiday story unlike any told before. With all the richness of classic folklore, they’ve woven a tale of bravery, love and magic. Whatever you thought you knew about Christmas…think again.
Married to a drunken tavern-keeper, Anna Wirth takes comfort in her two sons, hard-working Konrad and the beautiful, flaxen-haired Manfred, who sings like an angel and who, some say, has been touched by God.
Desiring a child of her own, Rosina the witch fashions one out of straw and scraps, but when she cannot bring the rag child to life she becomes enraged and turns the village children into shrubs, where they stay until a kind girl discovers the discarded doll and saves her.
In this third electrifying title, the witch's children's friend, Gemma, is scared about her first day at school. So, the Little One turns her into an ogre to give her courage . . . but ogres don't fit in at school. Never mind. The Little One has a solution - to turn the whle school into a storybook, which is a good place for an ogre. The trouble is, the witch's children are very good at doing spells but not so good at undoing them. . . who can help?