A Killing in Plymouth Colony [Hardcover]

Carol Otis Hurst (Author), Rebecca Otis (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

There had never before been a murder in Plymouth colony. In a community founded on such high ideals and strong principles, the very idea was unthinkable, but the facts were undeniable: John Newcomen had been shot and killed by someone. But by whom? When Governor William Bradford voices his suspicion of John Billington, somewhat of an outsider whose penchant for public drunkenness makes him an easy scapegoat, his own son rushes to the man’s defense. Twelve-year-old John Bradford understands what it’s like to live outside of his father’s good graces. It seems to him that every little mistake earns a harsh reprimand, but nothing he could ever do would win his father’s approval. This historical novel brings together the drama of a murder mystery and the complexities of the relationship between a father and his son to provide a glimpse of what life might have been like growing up in the young colony as it too struggled to determine its course and its identity.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-At first 12-year-old John Bradford was pleased to leave his foster family in Holland to join his father, William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Colony. But in the two years since he arrived, John hasn't connected with his father at all, and never seems to meet his expectations. But John has friends, a stepmother who loves him, and plenty of work to keep him busy, so life in the New World is bearable. That life is interrupted when John's friend Sam's five-year-old sister suddenly stops talking and seems to lose interest in the world around her. And when one of the colonists is killed, all eyes look to the colony's outcast, John Billington, a man whose quarrelsome nature is intensified by frequent drinking. The well-developed setting and picture of daily life in Colonial America provide an interesting backdrop and should hold readers' attention until the action picks up with the murder in the middle of the book. However, it is John's relationship with his father that is the real story here, and some readers may be disappointed that it is never resolved.
Heather Dieffenbach, Lexington Public Library, KY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-7. Eleven-year-old John Bradford has a strained relationship with his demanding father, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford. Despite John's earnest efforts and his stepmother's encouragement, he finds it difficult to please his father. When one of the colonists is killed by an unknown assailant, the whole community feels the anxiety of an unsolved mystery in their midst. The tension is only partially relieved after the killer among them is identified. Though the setting, the characters, and some of the events are based on historical accounts of Plymouth Colony, the actual story is original. The characters are sympathetic and their problems are not as easily, happily, or completely resolved as in much fiction written for this age level. The mystery element gives an added dimension to this historical novel. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618275975
• ISBN-13: 978-0618275977
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,477,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but possibly not historically accurate, January 13, 2005

By 

Laura C. Perenic (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Killing in Plymouth Colony (Hardcover)

A Killing at Plymouth Colony has many opportunities for a reader to reflect on how life has changed and how it has stayed the same. The cast of characters is familiar a forgotten son, town drunk, adorable girl who loves animals, best friend, loving mother, and cold father. John Bradford is the forgotten son of Governor William Bradford. Seeking a hand on the shoulder, a kind word or at least to make his father's eyes seems happy, John thinks he must be a failure who doesn't deserve love, though his step mother assures him this isn't true. Intertwined with family discord is the murder of John Newcomen, the suddenly trance of Rebecca which renders her mute and young John's first voyage to the trading post at Aptucxet. In the end the murderer is found and Rachel recovers, but John Bradford is no closer to understanding his father. Readers may giggle over the Pilgrim's speech because of their use of thy, thou and words ending in `eth' like seeth. This use of archaic language and the historical explanations at both beginning and end of the book allow the reader to see how little we have progressed in terms of our own human nature, we are still quick to judge and quick to blame even when a life is at stake. Additionally the pilgrims intense fear of witches may seem laughable but it is not unlike the public hysteria over sensationalized issues like shark attacks and Africanized honey bees, though its 300 years later America still has `witch hunts'.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars *SETTLERS DEAL WITH A BREACH OF TRUST*, May 31, 2004

By 

mcHaiku "nmi" (Brown County INDIANA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Killing in Plymouth Colony (Hardcover)

Carol Otis Hurst and Rebecca Otis combined their talents to write this historical novel set in the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts. In 1630 John Bradford was eleven, and finding it tough to be the son of the colony's high-minded governor, William Bradford. When John's mother died at his birth, he was left with surrogate parents in Holland for the 1st eight years of his life. The intervening years would inevitably make a reunion difficult and John feels almost totally estranged from his father.

He empathizes with John Billington who is often drunk and NOT an upright citizen. Both are frequently reprimanded by the governor. Happily, there is a friend: Sam Eaton contributes some normality to his life. Sam's five-year-old sister is traumatized when a member of the colony is killed. The book's cover picture shows the tormented Rachel sitting in a tree, hidden from the black-hatted colonists below who are planning to hunt down the murderer, someone trusted by Rachel.

The book brings into focus the *ordinariness* of daily life; however, their struggles were not play-acting like "survivors" on television. The father-son conflict is not entirely resolved in the story; "relationships" were not coddled in the harsh physical and social/emotional climate of those times!

In an "afterword" information is given about some of the book's characters who were actually colonists. REVIEWER mcHAIKU would be interested to learn if readers are primarily boys but recommends this book to all ages, and readers well beyond Massachusetts.