How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

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Publication date: 2016
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Pages: 348
My rating: 4 stars
Ages: 14+

Witches, a curse, a spirit, and a secret. Samantha Mather is a descendant of Cotton Mather--one of the men who convicted witches during the trials in Salem. When she and her stepmother move to Salem, Sam is met with suspicion and outright harassment. This mostly comes from The Descendants--those teens who are directly descended from the people tried as witches. Then people start dying. With the help of a spirit, Sam must break a curse that she doesn't truly believe in.

I love how Mather 1) uses her own family history to create a story without it seeming like she was making Sam an avatar of herself, 2) used a well-known historical event and put it so seamlessly into a new and interesting story.

The characters were engaging and mysterious. Mather gives the reader just enough information to keep them interested without getting frustrated. I, as I do when reading mystery, tried to make out who was behind it all. I did think of the solution, but kept passing it off as ridiculous.

This is another book that I would recommend to a lot of people--especially when looking at it through the lens of Mather's author note at the end.

Little to no language and no sex.

*I receive no compensation from Amazon.
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Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington

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Publication date: 2014
Publisher: Soho Teen
Pages: 278
My rating: 4 stars
Ages: 14+

Six weeks after starting at Wickham Hall, Liv is killed. But Liv isn't the first girl to die, or haunt, the school. With her friend Gabe--the only person who can see the ghosts--and her boyfriend Malcolm, Liv needs to find out who killed her. Was it the ghosts? Will Liv need to kill the next girl? And what about the Victors, the secret society on campus?

It took me a while to get this book from the library, but I wish I hadn't waited. I was completely drawn in to Wickham Hall and the strange things surrounding it. Gabe seeing ghosts, the Victors, and the stories of the dead girls that came at different intervals throughout the book.

It could be a little spooky--at least, for me, because I am easily spooked. And, of course, those spooky moments always came at night before I went to bed. But it was something that was easily overcome throughout the rest of the story. The one complaint I had is with the girl who died in the 1970s. Each of the other girls seemed to have a natural voice when telling their story, but I felt that Talkington tried too hard with how she spoke.

This book is appropriate for most teens. There is little language (if any) and no sexual situations.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.