Conversion by Katherine Howe

 

Blurb from Goodreads

It’s senior year at St. Joan’s Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian, deciphering boys’ texts: Through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they can’t.

First it’s the school’s queen bee, Clara Rutherford, who suddenly falls into uncontrollable tics in the middle of class. Her mystery illness quickly spreads to her closest clique of friends, then more students and symptoms follow: seizures, hair loss, violent coughing fits. St. Joan’s buzzes with rumor; rumor blossoms into full-blown panic.

Soon the media descends on Danvers, Massachusetts, as everyone scrambles to find something, or someone, to blame. Pollution? Stress? Or are the girls faking? Only Colleen—who’s been reading The Crucible for extra credit—comes to realize what nobody else has: Danvers was once Salem Village, where another group of girls suffered from a similarly bizarre epidemic three centuries ago . . .

Inspired by true events—from seventeenth-century colonial life to the halls of a modern-day high school—Conversion casts a spell. With her signature wit and passion, New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe delivers an exciting and suspenseful novel, a chilling mystery that raises the question, what’s really happening to the girls at St. Joan’s?

3.5 stars
I've often wondered what the people of earlier times did for fun. Obviously these girls depicted here were having a lot of fun. There have been many theories posted about why the girl accused fellow Puritans. This was an entertaining read about those girls and some modern day compatriots. We never quite know what is going on with the modern day girls. Are they faking or is it caused by some evil? I thought Howe did a great job of keeping the tension as she alternated between Annie's story and Colleen's story. I'm not sure that I got the answers I needed after reading their stories though. I'm not partial to tales that make you decide for yourself how the book was meant. I don't have enough imagination. I am willing to go on a journey with the author, but I definitely want them to tell me how they see the story ending.

I did like that the love story took a back seat to the more immediate troubles. Spence was a good guy, and I really appreciated that. He was supportive of Colleen, didn't treat her or others around him like dirt, and had a pleasant demeanor. No brooding bad boy means a happy me!

Colleen shows just how the pressure we put on our kids academically has gotten out of control. Colleen did put the pressure on herself, but she did it because she thought is what her parents wanted. Think of all the life that passed her by when she was furiously chasing the valedictorian dream. Although as a mother of a teen, I kinda want her to be into something passionately if it will mean no drugs or boys. Colleen was a great role model, and I appreciated that she kept her head when it came to Spence. So many girls in YA books lose their head if a boy shows interest. I really liked Colleen. Which brings me to the part that I didn't like... SPOILER AHEAD

The teacher/student romance. Emma is consumed with a teacher who should know better. I don't care if she is almost 18, there is a dynamic of power that is imbalanced. I did not like that part of the book.

I was really drawn in by the writing and the great main character. Howe really has a gift for painting St. Joan's and the pressures that come with a quality education.

There was some language including the f bomb.  Sex was alluded to (not graphically), but it was between a teacher and an underage girl.