Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Lucky to escape the gallows but doomed to servitude in the New World, young Samuel Collier instead finds adventure and a chance to remake himself, away from the streets and orphanages he has known. Carbone frames her story of the Jamestown settlement by the Powhatan prophecy foretelling the destruction of the Powhatan kingdom. The clash of cultures bringing about that destruction is well portrayed, as is the personal class between the gentlemen of the Virginia Company and the commoner Captain John Smith. Good use is made of eyewitness accounts in a telling that far transcends the usual dry textbook summaries of the period. While learning much history, readers will find characters real enough to care about: Ten-year-old Pocahontas racing naked through the center of the fort, Samuel mastering the bow and arrow and shooting his first rabbit, the magic of a New World masquerade in Pocahontas's village, where Samuel sits next to a princess. Lively historical fiction at its best. (afterword, author's note, acknowledgments, sources) (Fiction. 10 )

Voice of Youth Advocates

This meticulously researched novel depicts the early history of Virginia's Jamestown colony from the viewpoint of Captain John Smith's eleven-year-old page, Samuel Collier. Carbone creates Samuel, a historical figure of unknown origin, as a London orphan convicted of thievery but saved from the gallows by a good-hearted magistrate who gives him into the care of the kindly Reverend Hunt. Hunt later passes Samuel on to Smith when Hunt, with the aim of bringing Christianity to the natives, joins the Jamestown expedition. Under the harsh colonial conditions and with mentoring from Smith and Hunt, Samuel, the street-tough loner, learns the value of cooperation and, in the end, risks his life to save those he has come to love. The characters are sufficiently well drawn to sustain reader interest in the plot, but it is the portrayal of colonial life that is the book's primary strength. Young readers will relish hearing of the slop buckets and vomit in the ship's hold and the exhumation and consumption of corpses by starving settlers. The "gentleman" colonists' rejection of manual labor, the fruitless search for gold, the stupid treatment of the native population, and the Virginia Company's efforts to ensure that no word of New World hardships reaches England, possibly discouraging the labor flow, all engage the imagination. School and public libraries will find that this book circulates best among historical fiction buffs and the cover, two feather-bedecked braves spying on the colony, may also attract adventure fans, especially boys.-Mary E. Heslin.

ALA 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.

Horn Book

This readable historical novel is set during Jamestown colony's early years and told by Captain Smith's servant, a poor, unruly boy who is given the unexpected chance to better himself in the New World. Carbone explores themes of leadership, equality, and new beginnings with an even hand and solid documentation.

School Library Journal

Gr 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 2006 Reed Business Information.