Conversion, by Katherine Howe (Based on The Crucible, by Arthur Miller)Read about another entry on the list.
The original: After Puritan girls from Salem, Massachusetts, are caught dancing in a forest with a slave girl, one falls into a coma. Accusations of communing with the devil and practicing witchcraft fly, and though a man who had an affair with one of the girls knows they’re frauds, he acts too late to set things right.
Howe’s take: Modern-day high school senior Colleen starts doing research on the Salem witch trials and The Crucible after girls in her class begin having seizures and other odd symptoms. In between chapters from Colleen’s perspective are interludes from 1706, when a girl named Ann has a confession to make. With both stories moving along parallel to each other, the novel avoids readers predicting whether it will end like the original.
Also see Dahlia Adler's list of six great Young Adult retellings of classics.
Writers Read: Katherine Howe (February 2013).
--Marshal Zeringue
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