But it gathered in momentum and I could not tear my eyes from the pages. The author combines real events with fiction to produce an achingly sad and beautifully written tale of evil.

I really enjoyed this haunting book about the Salem Witch Trials. ― Ann Rinaldi, A Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials But this land has a future only if each of us stands up for what is right when it is given us to do so.” This is a brave land, Susanna, founded by brave people who never shrank from their duty or their vision of freedom. This book helped me to understand something of the witch trials and how good people could have stood by and done nothing while people were convicted and executed. I felt her fear and frustration when her friends and neighbors began being arrested, but the threats to her family kept her silent. It was easy to see how Susanna was put in the situation she was and wasn't able to think of a way to change things. What young girl doesn't ache to be a part of the group, particularly when it seems that they are having fun in a society where fun isn't readily available? Three hundred and some years later, the feelings and fears of a teeange girl still ring true. I was pulled into the story from the first pages. The language reads so authentic, not too old-fashioned, but highly readable while remaining true to the times. Historical fiction can be more fiction and less history and more history and less fiction, but this book is strong in both the story while keeping the history correct. She says that she writes young adult books 'because I like to write them.' Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called 'terrible.' She became a grandmother in 1991. Her first published novel, Term Paper, was written in 1979. She continued the column, called The Trentonian, through much of her writing career. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. She also writes for the Dear America series.

She is the most prolific writer for the Great Episode series, a series of historical fiction novels set during the American Colonial era. In 2000, Wolf by the Ears was listed as one the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last one hundred years. She has written a total of forty novels, eight of which were listed as notable by the ALA. She is best known for her historical fiction, including In My Father's House, The Last Silk Dress, An Acquaintance with Darkness, A Break with Charity, and Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons. August 27, 1934, in New York City) is a young adult fiction author.

A break with charity book