Fifteen-year-old Christopher adjusts to life in the New World with the help of a Sewee Indian who teaches him to survive in 1670 Carolina. Christopher's respect for the Sewee way of life is in sharp contrast to his haughty father, who refuses to acknowledge the help provided by the Indians. The conflict between European and Native American cultures is well drawn.

Karr spins a tale of the first European colonists in the Carolinas (1670) around a haunting historical episode. Teenaged Christopher West is able to escape most of the arduous work of building a settlement by hooking up with Asha-po, a member of the indigenous Sewee who quickly picks up some English, and sets about teaching his new friend how to hunt, forage and live in harmony with the land. Christopher thrives under Asha-po's tutelage, and so does the colony, surviving a tough first winter, and fending off attacks from both Spanish settlers and hostile neighbors called Westo—but relations turn sour when the English move inland, clearing land for plantations, overtaxing the local food supplies and using Westo captives as slave labor. In the end, Christopher returns to the coast in search of his friend—and arrives in time to see the entire Sewee community setting out to sea in canoes, heading for Europe and, as it turns out, directly into a hurricane. They were never seen again, Karr explains in an afterword, and left only hints behind of what they were like. A poignant chapter in our country's early history, set further to the South than recent tales of the period. (Fiction. 11-13)

Gr 4-7-This is the story of a cross-cultural friendship, the struggles faced by the English trying to make a life in the South Carolina colony in 1670, and the effects of colonization on Native Americans. Christopher West, the narrator, is a likable, open-minded teen who forms a close bond with a Sewee Indian. They learn a great deal from one another, and Asha-po teaches Christopher how to survive in his new harsh surroundings. Their relationship brings to mind Elizabeth George Speare's The Sign of the Beaver (Houghton, 1983). As this friendship develops, Christopher begins to wrestle in his own mind with the perceived injustice done by his people toward the Sewees. Conflicts with his father begin, but Chrisptoher's upbringing prevents disobedience. When Asha-po and his people help the English fight off an attack by the Spanish, and then by the hostile Westo, they are offered meager gifts as a thank you, with promises of more to come. When another ship arrives from England without further reward and with more settlers, the teens' relationship is severely strained. This thoughtful novel offers extensive information as well as a gripping story of friendship and adventure. Karr paints a clear picture of the problems endured by the colonists and their single-minded determination to survive. In an afterword, she explains how she intermingled real historical figures with fictional ones and what triggered the story's surprising ending.-Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

When the Caroline deposits its English passengers on the shore of the Carolinas in 1670, they are met by the native Sewee with gifts of food. Christopher West, son of the colony's leader, befriends young Asha-po. Gradually they learn to communicate, and when the colony is desperate for food, the hunting skills that Christopher has learned from Asha-po save the colony from starvation. Fearing a Spanish sea attack, the colonists set up a lookout on a deserted island far from their settlement. Christopher volunteers to keep watch, and Asha-po joins him. They manage to turn back the Spanish with a cannon meant only for warning the colony. Their relationship sours when the Sewee save the English from an attack by the fierce Westo tribe and the English promise gifts that they are unable or unwilling to produce. Disillusioned, the Sewee set off in their canoes for England to speak directly with King Charles. The theme-that youth understands what adults cannot-will be familiar to young adult readers. The story includes enough adventure and excitement to hold a reader, but it strains credulity when first a single cannon manned by fifteen-year-old boys holds off two Spanish war ships and then when the Sewee, supposedly in tune with nature, launch their canoes in high hurricane season for a voyage that will take many months. The English and Sewee adults seem to be vying for who can make worse decisions. Christopher's thoughts on everything left this reader feeling that while the rest of the colony lived in 1670, Christopher was a transplant from 2005.-Lynne Hawkins.