Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

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 Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, by Grady Hendrix

Florida, 1970, at the Wellwood House, a home for pregnant teenage girls where they can be anonymous, invisible, have their babies adopted out (whether they want to or not), and go home with no-one the wiser.  It's a sweltering summer when "Fern" arrives and meets "Rose," who wants to keep her baby and go live on a hippie commune; "Zinnia," who wants to marry her musician, and "Holly," barely 14, mute, and with no named father.  Among 15+ plus other girls, they are strictly controlled.  Plenty of chores, restricted diets (no salt?!), lots of guilt, and no freedom at all.

When the bookmobile librarian offers Fern a book on witchcraft, the girls are not impressed, but they are bored and resentful of the doctor who insists Zinnia's constant nausea is all in her head.  So they try something to give him uncontrollable nausea -- and it works.  Now the librarian wants them to join her coven and promises them freedom and power, but at what price?  Just how much are they willing to give up, and can anything save Holly from the truly horrifying fate that awaits her and her baby?  Maybe witchcraft isn't the solution.

Well, I could hardly put it down, and there were definitely tears at the end.  It's a pretty gut-wrenching book and takes a good hard look at the way pregnant teens used to be treated at those homes.  Hendrix wrote the story because two beloved aunts told him of their experiences (I think they weren't sisters and didn't know about each other).  He blends the real circumstances with the fantasy horror very nicely, and the result is good stuff.

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