The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Content Ratings

Mild Romance

Kit's story involves two suitors, including a serious and growing romantic relationship with a young sailor named Nat; their connection involves emotional tension, jealousy, and a romantic resolution, but no physical content beyond longing and a gentle conclusion.

Moderate Themes

The novel depicts religious extremism, community persecution of innocent people, and the denial of women's autonomy in a theocratic society; Kit's trial for witchcraft creates genuine emotional and historical tension.

Mild Violence

Kit is put on trial for witchcraft with the threat of serious punishment; a child's illness is blamed on Kit; the danger is real and frightening but violence is not depicted directly.

Synopsis

In 1687, spirited sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler arrives in Puritan Connecticut from the freedom of Barbados and struggles to conform to the strict, joyless society she finds there; when she befriends a Quaker woman rumored to be a witch, Kit herself becomes a target of suspicion and fear. A gripping historical novel about religious intolerance, the persecution of outsiders, and a young woman's fierce independence. A Newbery Medal winner.