title: Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem
author:  Rosalyn Schanzer 
description: Rosalyn Schanzer is the award-winning author andillustrator of 16 books for young people, including <i>How We Crossed the West</i> which garnered starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, and <i>George versus George: The American Revolution as Seen From Both Sides</i>, an ALA Notable Book, SLJ Book of the Year, NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, and Orbis Pictus Recommended book. She was recently awarded the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators for her work on <i>Witches</i>. Roz lives in Virginia with her husband, Steve, in a house surrounded by birds.
zlib_text: > > GHASTLY BRIGHT
  
  > > DARKLY SWEET CHRISTMAS NOVEL
  
  > JULIANN WHICKER
  
  > CONTENTS
  
  >  _Chapter 1_
  
  >  _Chapter 2_
  
  >  _Chapter 3_
  
  >  _Chapter 4_
  
  >  _Chapter 5_
  
  >  _Chapter 6_
  
  >  _Chapter 7_
  
  >  _Chapter 8_
  
  >  _Chapter 9_
  
  >  _Chapter 10_
  
  >  _Chapter 11_
  
  > 12\. _Mage_
  
  >  _Acknowledgments_
  
  > > 1
  
  O nce upon a time, there was a gingerbread cottage in the middle of the woods.
  The Big Bad Wolf had built it for his Wicked Witch, a place where they could
  have their Happily Ever After.
  
  But life isn’t a fairy tale. And there are no Happily Ever Afters for witches
  whose mother and aunt-in-law are coming for tea and procreational advice on
  Tuesday.
  
  I glared at the sheet of pale yellow metal in front of me. If I got started on
  this, I wouldn’t have time to clean up before my mother came. And Aunt Ramona.
  She still hated me.
  
  “Do you have new laser eyes I don’t know about? Looking isn’t going to get the
  job done.” Zach stood behind me, close enough I could feel his energy. He was
  parti