From the Publisher
When, in the winter of 1691, accusations of witchcraft surface in her small New England village, twelve-year-old Mary Chase fights to save her mother from execution.
Publishers Weekly
The evocative cover illustration of a Puritan woman in chains silhouetted against a flaming sky promises a high historical drama about the Salem witch trials. What Lasky (Sugaring Time; The Night Journey) delivers instead is a soap opera with shoe buckles. Despite the author's research (described in a note at the end), this overblown narrative is riddled with anachronisms and just plain howlers. An awesome mom of 1692, for example, spouts such pronouncements as ``All parents must learn to let go of their children.'' The foulest witchcraft in the book goes unremarked by Lasky, whose protagonist Mary Chase has worked with her mare since it was ``just a colt.'' It is wondrous, too, that a Salem resident carries a kerosene lantern and that Mary's mother wears drawers, neither item having been in use until the 19th century. The writing isn't much sturdier than the scholarship: Lasky tosses in some rock-'em, sock-'em fight scenes, a ghost and an imperilled woman of virtue rescued at the 11th hour-as if the hysteria of the Salem villagers wasn't excitement enough. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
The ALAN Review
What a wonderful novel! Lasky brilliantly achieves her goal of introducing young readers to the "dynamics of the Salem witch trials" of 1692. Thirty-nine chapters juxtapose the "dark design" of religious and political conspiracy in the Massachusetts colony, the serenity of "the secret life of the countryside," the world of apprentice shipbuilding, and the routines of farm life near Salem Village. Bone-chilling suspense propels the story toward Virginia Chase's arrest as a witch and her children Mary and Caleb's plot to rescue her from hanging. Lasky sets twelve-year-old Mary's growing awareness of her responsibility for her family's safety against themes of hate, greed, and visible and invisible worlds, theocracy, and family love. An Epilogue dated 1779 reveals the fate of all the principal characters. An excellent "Author's Note" explains how Lasky weaves together fiction and history. Useful suggestions for further reading are provided. Not to be missed in grades 6-9, but eerily provocative for all ages.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-9-Mary Chase's sense of foreboding grows as, one by one, her friends fall prey to evidence of witchcraft and the innocent are identified as witches. She is horrified by the growing hysteria, and dismayed when her mother, who is a widow working a farm without a man, is cried out upon and arrested. Characterizations of Mary and her brother, Caleb, apprentice to a ship's carpenter, are sturdy and complex. The young people are placed squarely in the milieu of 1691 Salem, and their intelligence and healthy disbelief in witchery make them likable. Their bravely engineered rescue of their mother from execution is stirring. Interestingly, Lasky examines the social, religious, and economic forces that affected Salem Village and the Massachusetts Colony. Elements as diverse as two neighbors' feud over property and Cotton Mather's satisfaction that the governor should spend his time pursuing the French and the Indians (leaving the Puritan minister in charge of ``the witch business'') are included. Well researched and documented with extensive notes, the book also interweaves information about colonial ship construction and the effect on the colony of being charterless. Written in fairly formal language and diction, as befits the 17th-century setting, Beyond the Burning Time is a readable, engrossing, and sometimes exciting tale of an important era in American history. In spite of the fact that its interest and reading level are quite similar to Ann Rinaldi's A Break with Charity (Harcourt, 1992), Beyond the Burning Time merits purchase where the subject is popular.-Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
BookList
Lasky's docunovel about the Salem witch trials captures the mass hysteria, the ignorance, the violence, the power struggle, and the calculated self-interest that drove the New England community to execute 24 people as agents of the devil. The focus is on 12-year-old Mary Chase as she tries desperately to rescue her mother, Virginia, who has been accused of witchcraft and sentenced to hang. Mary's struggle is dramatic, especially near the end when she grows fierce and strong in her determination to set her mother free. Unfortunately, the individual story is swamped by the wealth of background information. The huge cast of characters is almost impossible to keep straight, especially since there are abrupt switches in point of view from that of Mary to that of other people and back again; there are also general observations about the politics of the time and the evils of theocracy. Lasky's research is meticulous: she draws on court records and contemporary accounts to show the community madness. The history overwhelms the fiction, but both are compelling.
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