Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper

Anne Green is dead.  All of Oxford was there to see her hanged for the crime of infanticide.  Even Anne Green knows that she's dead.

Told in alternating perspectives – that of Anne Green as well as that of the doctors examining her body following her public hanging – this is the story of the events leading to Anne’s eventual conviction.  However, in an unbelievable turn of events, a roomful of witnesses notice a twitch in Anne Green’s body, and none are able to deny when she takes a breath of air.  A mixture of history, science, and mystery, this story captures the attention of even the most skeptical of readers.  Recommended especially to early high school readers looking for something different – maybe for an unexpectedly pleasant read to satisfy a historical fiction reading requirement?

Reviewed by kate the librarian.