Virginia Bound - Hardcover

Butler, Amy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0618247521 ISBN 13: 9780618247523

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2003

Synopsis

Kidnapped from the streets of London and sent to the new Jamestown colony in Virginia, Rob Brackett, forced to serve a brutal tobacco farmer and taught not to trust the Indians, finds an unlikely ally in an Indian girl named Mattoume--a powerful friendship that helps him to survive the New World.

About this title

About the Author

"Amy Butler writes historical fiction from her home near Boston, and has also contributed award-winning nonfiction to a variety of magazines. Virginia Bound, her first novel, was called "excellent" by Kirkus Reviews."

Reviews

Grade 5-8-Rob Brackett, 13, is a softhearted orphan who lives on the streets of London in 1627. He cares for a younger orphan, Nell, whose na‹vet‚ causes both children to be kidnapped and sent to Virginia. Rob is a skilled carpenter, but he is indentured to a cruel tobacco farmer, Captain Holt, and separated from Nell. When he arrives at Holt's farm, he meets another servant, Mattoume, a 12-year-old Pamunkey girl. At first, she does not speak, but when they are alone in the field, she saves Rob from a snake and begins to speak to him in English, and they devise a plan to run away to Mattoume's family. When a kind carpenter wants to buy Rob's services and take him away from Holt's farm, the boy feels guilty about leaving Mattoume alone but then assists her in a successful escape. He finds Nell living near his new home, and the villain, mauled by a bear during Mattoume's escape, moves back to England. Butler authentically presents the white settlers' racism toward the Native Americans and Rob's eventual understanding and respect for his new native friend, but it is unfortunate that Mattoume speaks in a type of broken English reminiscent of 1950s Hollywood Westerns. There's a mix of good and evil characters, but not all are well developed; Rob is presented with the most definition and depth.
Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4-7. Living by his wits in London in 1627, 13-year-old Rob tells himself, "Look out for yourself . . . And don't trust no one." Against his better judgment, Rob takes nine-year-old Nell under his protection. Her trusting nature leads to their being captured, shipped off to Virginia, and sold as indentured servants in Jamestown. Rob labors hard and long on his cruel master's tobacco farm, where the unexpected friendship of a captive Indian girl challenges Rob's percepts and tests his courage and his honor. Brought to life through vivid details, the well-realized seventeenth-century setting becomes an integral part of the novel, rather than a mere backdrop. Readers caught up in Rob's adventures will not only empathize with his misfortunes and dilemmas but they will also come away with a better understanding of the early colonial period in Virginia. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0618247521
• ISBN 13: 9780618247523
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 188