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About Blood On The River: James Town 1607
Product Description Twelve-year-old Samuel Collier is a lowly commoner on the streets of London. So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the ship the Susan Constant, bound for the New World, he can’t believe his good fortune. He’s heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he had ever imagined.The lush Virginia shore where they establish the colony of James Town is both beautiful and forbidding, and it’s hard to know who’s a friend or foe. As he learns the language of the Algonquin Indians and observes Captain Smith’s wise diplomacy, Samuel begins to see that he can be whomever he wants to be in this new land. From School Library Journal Starred Review. Grade 5-7–After attempting to steal back a necklace that belonged to his deceased mother, Samuel Collier is sent to an orphanage run by Reverend Hunt. The 11-year-old joins him on a journey to the New World, serving as a page to Captain John Smith. Samuel's account of the voyage to Virginia, political intrigues among the settlers, and the harrowing first winter of the James Town settlement brings to life figures like Smith, Powhatan, and Pocahontas. Details about food and daily life add realism to the story, and quotes from historical sources begin each chapter. This Samuel is more conflicted than the one in Gail Langer Karwoski's Surviving Jamestown: The Adventures of Young Sam Collier (Peachtree, 2001). His initial selfishness changes as he responds to the reverend, to Smith, and to his new friends. His time in an Indian village and his changing perspectives on the Natives add interest to the story and depth to his character. While the opening chapters move slowly, the pace picks up as Samuel reaches Virginia. This title is a good choice for a tie-in with the 400th anniversary celebrations of Jamestown in 2007. –Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Gr. 5-8. Following Stealing Freedom (1998) and Storm Warriors (2001), both set in the nineteenth century, Carbone dips further back in U.S. history to the founding of James Town. Young orphan Samuel Collier narrates from his viewpoint as Captain John Smith's page, and the gripping historical fiction reflects Carbone's heavy reliance on primary source material, which she cites in an appendix. The dense particulars of daily life may tire readers who demand high-action plots. Others, though, will be easily caught up in the meticulously drawn scenes, from the fetid ship's hold to the snowy forests where Samuel learns to hunt with Powhatan friends. The cover, showing two crouched Powhatan Indians surveying the settlement, is a puzzling choice, particularly since the British characters are the focus. Still, like Joseph Bruchac's Pocahontas (2003), the text offers a view of Indian life that is far from the Disney stereotypes. An author's note offers more historical contest. A strong, visceral story of the hardship and peril settlers faced, as well as the brutal realities of colonial conquest. Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Review "Lively historical fiction at its best." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Samuel’s account of the voyage to Virginia, political intrigues among the settlers, and the harrowing first winter of the James Town settlement brings to life figures like Smith, Powhatan, and Pocahontas. Details about food and daily life add realism to the story, and quotes from historical sources begin each chapter." -School Library Journal, starred review About the Author Elisa Carbone lives in Maryland and West Virginia.
