Green Witch

Alice Hoffman's Green Witch, with a release date of March 2010, feels as though it were written just for me. It actually follows another book, Green Angel, but is also approachable on its own.

Green is a teenage girl who has suffered greatly. Her family all died the day the city across the river was attacked and engulfed in flames while Green, left behind that day, watches. Time has passed, and the survivors in Green's village have tried to rebuild their lives. Green's garden grows like magic as she and the land heal. To cope, Green has begun writing down the stories of everyone in the village, making her own paper and ink to use, and adding ingredients fitting the story to be written--cinnamon for the baker's story, grass for the man who made windmills to make the earth green, the last page of a printed book for the schoolteacher.

But certain stories are more important to gather. There is talk of witches in the land--women who stood too long in the shower of ash from the city who now have the power to discern truth and grant a heart's desire. Green begins a journey to find each of these women to write down their stories and search for hope. She is also searching for Diamond, a boy she fell in love with after the tragedy, who left her to search for his own family. Can hope and love prevail as Green learns that the Horde, who destroyed the city have been capturing her neighbors and friends and plan to attack again?

I loved every bittersweet page of this book. Not just because Green is a writer like me, or because I love the description of how she makes her paper. Beyond such details this is a story about finding hope when all seems lost and trusting in love again after pain. Although it is clearly inspired by 9/11, the point isn't hammered into the reader, and we are allowed to make the association on our own, or choose a different pain instead. Loss is universal, but as Green reminds us, so is redemption, hope and love.

This book is labeled for ages 12 and up, and I think adults will connect with it as well. Even though I could see much of the ending coming, there were still a few surprises, and I was never frustrated with the pace. I heartily recommend this book, though I advise that you read it in a quiet place where you can soak it in completely without distraction.