Witness

HAPPY POETRY MONTH! april is national poetry month, so here come thirty floats! the cynics here will call this plan a shameless grab for votes. and maybe there’s some truth to that— i do love validation, but charitably consider it a rhyme-y celebration. i don’t intend to flood your feed— i’ll just post one a......more

Why a 5 star rating?: This is a well written, compelling look at prejudice and hate told through a variety a voices and perspectives. Hesse is masterful when it comes to writing poetry and novels in verse. Because the novel is narrated by a diverse group of characters, you get to experience the stor......more

This little book packs a huge punch. In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan comes to a small Vermont town to “protect families.” As the Klan becomes more violent and influential, their presence impacts every person in the town. This novel-in-verse is told from multiple points-of-view. The characters are different......more

3.5*** Eleven residents of a small Vermont town in 1924 reveal what happens when the Ku Klux Klan moves in. Neighbors turn against one another and no one is safe, particularly two children: twelve-year-old Leonora, an African American girl, and six-year-old Esther, who is Jewish. The residents of th......more

I just finished reading this book of poems about a community in Vermont and the KKK... it was very interesting... my favorite line - "persecution is not american. it is not american to give the power of life and death to a secret organization. it is not american to have our citizens judged by an inv......more