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Gr 5-8-John Smythe, 12 years old in Plymouth Pioneers, and his sister Sarah, 10, have come on the Mayflower to the New World. As Separatists, the Smythes believe in practicing their faith in daily life, and their first year in North America gives them ample opportunity to do that. The family reappears in Dream Seekers, although John and Sarah are now grown and their brother Phillip, 12, is front and center. Pioneers has the inherent drama of the desperate fight to survive in alien surroundings, but is weakened by a tendency to substitute descriptions of physical attributes for character development; mixed in is some degree of telling rather than showing. Dream Seekers has more convincing characterization, although Mr. Smythe is drawn as substantially more stern by Lough than by Reece. Seekers also has uneven plotting, with characters appearing, disappearing, and reappearing randomly. The Roger Williams tie-in of the subtitle is all but dropped about one-fourth of the way through. Dialogue in both books ranges from obviously historical, such as "aye" for "yes," to curiously modern such as, "Wait up!" The strength is in the children's repeated struggles to choose appropriate behavior and to depend on God in difficult circumstances. For libraries with a high demand for Christian fiction, the depiction of faith applied could override the general mediocrity of the writing.-Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another good book from the American Adventure series.,
This review is from: Dream Seekers: Roger William's Stand for Freedom (The American Adventure Series #3) (Paperback)
This is the third book in The American Adventure series. This series tells about the lives of children from many generations of a fictional family throughout American history, from the settling of Plymouth by the Pilgrims through the end of World War II.
It's 1634, and twelve-year-old Phillip Smythe isn't happy that his family has moved from Plymouth to Boston. He had to leave all his friends behind, and is worried about the greater threat of Indian attack. When he meets an Indian in the woods named White Wolf, Phillip wonders if he can really trust him. And the health of his sickly younger sister, Leah, seems to have worsened since the move. Meanwhile, Phillip is struggling with how he will tell his father, a carpenter, that he doesn't want to study his trade, but learn to be an apothecary instead. Phillips wonders if he will ever be able to make his father proud of him, while still making his own dreams come true. And will Leah survive her latest illness? Although I enjoyed some of the other American Adventure books more, this was still a pretty good historical novel for young readers about a time period not written about too often. I would recommend it to those who have a special interest in this time period, or who want to read the complete series.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good History Concepts and Character Development,
By Beth Bascom (New Hampton, NH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dream Seekers (American Adventure (Hardcover Chelsea House)) (Library Binding)
A young friend introduced me to Dream Seekers. I was impressed with its treatment of historical themes, such as cultural assimulation and conflict. As a Christian educator/parent, I appreciated the presentation of both sides of the debate over separation of church and state, drawing no conclusions and allowing young readers to mentally and morally wrestle with such issues. The book is strong on examples of character development, without being preachy.
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