The Puritans were jerks! That's my takeaway.

Witch Child follows a teenager named Mary who travels to the New World with a shipload of Puritans after her grandmother is hanged as a witch.

It's all fun and games (not really, but she finds friends and a place for herself) until the same hysteria over suspected witchcraft starts up in the settlement; Mary is an easy target.

Rees is apparently a prolific YA author, but I don't think I've read any of her work before. Witch Child is a decent book, although I had trouble with the diary format -- it didn't work for me at all. It seems forced. After reading an entry, written by Mary, describing Mary looking at herself in the mirror, reflecting upon her own appearance, I gave up on trying to suspend disbelief.

That said, I liked the story, and I liked the non-Puritan characters, and it was a quick enough read that I didn't get too irritated about the format. I'll probably read the sequel, just to see what happens.