1. One of the blurbs on the back cover says it's left up to the reader whether or not Mary is really a witch. Um, no, it's made pretty clear. She has visions. She's not the kind of witch her neighbors think she is, but she definitely has "powers."

2. I was fascinated by the girl on the cover, so I was pretty entertained that in the sequel excerpt, the character who had just "read" the book was pondering who she was also.

3. There is no mystery at all as to where this is going, at least not if you are familiar with any of these: a) American history, b) The Crucible, c) Witch of Blackbird Pond. Which is okay--it certainly heightens the forboding. The story is well told. But since I've both read Miller's masterful play and frequently read WOBP (despite the embarrassingly romance novel-esque cover my Scholastic book edition had) as a kid, it didn't really bring anything new to my world. I can see that for modern tweens, it might be what WOBP was for me, and I have no real quibble with those who rate it higher.