Honestly, it’s a bit weird that we give Witness by Karen Hesse to twelve-year-olds. I mean, I’m glad we do, but it’s heavy. It isn't your standard historical fiction about "the olden days" where everyone wears bonnets and learns a tough lesson about sharing. It’s a book about how a small town in Vermont—not the Deep South, but 1924 Vermont—starts to rot from the inside because the Ku Klux Klan moves in.
Hesse doesn't use a standard narrator. She uses eleven different voices. You’ve got a six-year-old girl named Leanora Sutter who is black, and a twelve-year-old named Esther Hirsh who is Jewish. They are the targets. But then you have the others. The shopkeepers, the town gossip, the preacher, and the people who actually join the Klan. It’s a verse novel, which sounds like it might be "easy" to read because there’s so much white space on the page. It’s not. The format actually makes the gut punches land harder.
The Vermont Setting is the Point
Most people think of the KKK and immediately picture Alabama or Mississippi. Hesse makes a very deliberate choice to set this in the North. She’s pulling from real history here—the Klan actually had a massive surge in the 1920s across the Midwest and New England. They didn't always show up with torches first; they showed up with "family values" and picnics.
Leanora Sutter is the soul of the book. She’s lonely. Her mother died, and she’s living in a town that increasingly treats her like a virus. There’s this one specific moment where she talks about the cold. It’s not just the Vermont winter; it’s the social freezing out. She’s stuck in a place that claims to be "good" while it watches her suffer. Then you have Esther. Esther is younger, innocent, and speaks in this fragmented, joyful way that makes what happens to her father even more sickening.
The town is called Schoolam, and while the town itself is fictional, the events are rooted in the very real rise of the "Second Klan." This wasn't the post-Civil War Klan. This was the one that hated immigrants, Catholics, and Jews just as much as they hated Black Americans.
How the Verse Format Actually Works
If you’ve never read a verse novel, you might think it’s just poetry. It’s not. It’s more like a play or a series of monologues. Karen Hesse is a master of this. She won the Newbery Medal for Out of the Dust, but I’d argue that Witness by Karen Hesse is technically more impressive because she manages to keep eleven distinct "voices" straight.
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You can tell who is speaking without looking at the name at the top of the page.
Percival Hall speaks with a different rhythm than Iris Weaver.
Iris is a bootlegger.
She’s tough.
She’s independent.
She doesn't have time for the Klan’s nonsense, but she’s also breaking the law to get by.
Then there’s Merlin Van Tornhout. He’s eighteen. He’s the one that’s easiest to hate but also the most uncomfortable to read about because you see how he gets recruited. He’s not a monster at first. He’s just a dumb, frustrated kid who wants to feel powerful. The Klan gives him a hood and a sense of belonging. Watching his descent—and his eventual, shaky attempt at a conscience—is where the real complexity of the book lives.
The Characters You'll Probably Hate (And One You Might Not Expect)
- Harvey Pettibone: He’s a shopkeeper. He’s not a "villain" in the sense that he’s out for blood, but he’s greedy. He joins the Klan because he thinks it’ll be good for business. It’s the banality of his evil that sticks with you. He wants to sell more brooms.
- Viola Pettibone: His wife. She’s the voice of reason, sort of. She sees right through the "fraternal organization" facade.
- Johnny Reeves: The preacher. This is the most disturbing part. Hesse shows how the Klan used religion to justify their hatred. Reeves is a hypocrite of the highest order, and his "fall from grace" is one of the more graphic subplots in the book.
Why Does It Still Rank on Reading Lists?
In a world of TikTok and 10-second attention spans, a book written in 2001 about 1924 shouldn't be this popular. But it is. Teachers love it because you can finish it in two hours, but you’ll talk about it for two weeks.
There’s a specific tension in Witness by Karen Hesse that mirrors what we see in social media echo chambers today. The way the Klan "brands" themselves as "100% American" is a tactic that hasn't gone away. It’s about the "us vs. them" mentality. When the characters start turning on each other, it doesn't feel like a history lesson. It feels like a warning.
The turning point of the book involves an attempted murder. No spoilers, but the way the town reacts—the way some people wake up and others double down—is incredibly nuanced. Hesse doesn't give everyone a happy ending. She doesn't pretend that the town is "fixed" by the last page. She just shows that some people chose to be brave, and some people stayed cowards.
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Common Misconceptions About the Story
I've seen people online say this book is "anti-religion" or "anti-Vermont." That’s a surface-level take.
Honestly, the book is pro-humanity. It’s about the fact that "witnessing" isn't passive. If you see something happening and you stay silent, you’re part of the machinery. That’s why the title is perfect. Every character is a witness. Even the ones who are victims are witnessing the collapse of their community’s morality.
Some parents have tried to ban it because of the language or the depictions of the KKK. But taking it out of schools is kind of proving the book’s point. It’s uncomfortable because the history is uncomfortable. 1924 wasn't that long ago. My grandfather was alive in 1924. This isn't ancient history; it’s the foundation of the world we live in now.
Actionable Insights for Readers and Educators
If you are picking up Witness by Karen Hesse for the first time, or if you’re planning to teach it, don't just focus on the "plot." There isn't a traditional plot with a hero's journey.
1. Track the "Voice" Changes
Pay attention to the physical layout of the text. When characters are stressed, the line breaks get choppier. When they are confident, the lines are longer. Hesse uses the typography to show the character's mental state.
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2. Look Up the 1920s Klan in the North
Do a quick search for the KKK in Vermont or Indiana during this era. Understanding that they held massive parades in the streets of major northern cities changes how you view the "villains" in the book. They weren't hiding in the woods; they were in the town square.
3. Focus on the "Middle" Characters
Don't just look at Leanora or the Klan members. Look at the people in the middle, like the doctor or the town gossip. Their silence is what allows the tension to escalate. Ask yourself: at what point does "minding your own business" become "complicity"?
4. Pair it With Visuals
If you’re a visual learner, look up photography from the 1920s in rural New England. Seeing the actual faces of people from that era makes the voices in the book feel less like characters and more like ghosts.
5. Analyze the Ending
The ending is abrupt. It’s supposed to be. Life doesn't always have a neat third act where the bad guy goes to jail and everyone hugs. Sometimes, people just have to figure out how to live next door to someone they no longer trust.
Basically, this book is a masterclass in economy. Karen Hesse doesn't waste a single word. Every "the" and "and" is doing work. It’s a short book that carries a massive weight, and if you read it with your eyes open, it’ll probably change how you look at your own community. It’s about the power of standing up, even when you’re a six-year-old girl with nothing but a heavy coat and a lot of heart.
The real takeaway is that hate doesn't always arrive with a bang. Sometimes it arrives with a brochure and a promise of a better neighborhood. Witness by Karen Hesse reminds us that we are all watching, all the time, and what we do with that "witness" is what defines us.