Blood on the River: James Town 1607 (Hardcover)

by Elisa Carbone (Author) "MY FEET SLAP, bare and cold, on the cobblestones..." (more)
Key Phrases: mess pots, Captain Smith, Reverend Hunt, Captain Newport (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From 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. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (May 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670060607
• ISBN-13: 978-0670060603
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #503,656 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now I understand Jamestown, July 10, 2006

By	Camille "at the BookMoot!" (Katy, TX) - See all my reviews

The importance and fun of historical fiction is the ability to "live" in another time and place and understand something about that point in history. As a librarian, I've purchased fiction and nonfiction books about Jamestown and I've provided educational videos on the topic. I have studied the settlement along with the kids through elementary, junior high and high school, blah-blah-blah.

I have just finished Elisa Carbone's superb Blood on the River.

NOW I get it.

Other books have accurately and factually recounted the history of the James Town settlement but Carbone has brought it to life. Using real characters from the colony's registers, she has recreated a story that is an absolute page turner. We smell the stench of the ships and see the frost on the ground. The distrust between the English and the Wampanoag is palpable. The gnawing hunger, the "summer sickness" and the scent of wood fires is so strong, I felt like I was within the palisade walls.

Young Samuel Collier is bound as a page to Captain John Smith on the eve of his departure for Virginia. Sam's fierce temper and survival sense will be his undoing and his salvation in the new land. The perils of the voyage at sea and the political turmoil that plagued the expedition from the onset are vividly described. The useless "gentlemen" resent the common sense of John Smith and his lack of respect for his "betters." Before they even arrive on Virginia's shores, the "gentlemen" have clapped Smith in irons and plan to hang him.

Sam clearly sees the issues confronting the colony but as a servant he is powerless. His loyalty to Smith serves him well. Smith teaches him to fight with a sword and how to use a musket. He also arranges for Sam to stay with a friendly Indian tribe during the second winter so he can learn their language and survival skills instead of going hungry at the settlement. Sam revels in his time with the tribe, realizing their lifestyle is perfectly adapted to the harsh environment. He respects their traditions and their pride as a nation. It is with great reluctance that he returns to James Town when winter is over.

The reader fumes along with Sam at the stupidity of the Virginia Company. Their reliance on old world ideas of "gentlemen" leaders dooms many settlers to death. It is only when John Smith is voted on, by the colonists, to become their president that the colony's fortunes take a turn for the better. The story of Pocahontas is part of the storyline. Carbone chooses a likely version of her rescue of John Smith and depicts her as the child she really was at the time.

In the afterword, Carbone includes excellent notes and suggestions for additional reading. She describes her research which was fascinating to read on its own.

"I asked teachers and librarians for suggestions. "What would you most like to see a new novel about?" I asked. The answer came over and over: Jamestown.

I thought, "That old story? John Smith and Pocahontas AGAIN? Booooooring!"


In Carbone's hands -- boring? Not at all! This is some of the best historical fiction I have read since The Blood Red Horse. Highly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today., August 26, 2006

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

An author that writes about Indian raids circa the early 1600s is setting themselves up for a monumental challenge. One, quite frankly, that I don't envy a bit. I mean, it's a bit easier if you're taking the side or point of view of the Native Americans. There's a bit of fear that your story is going to be monumentally depressing, but authors like Joseph Bruchac and Michael Dorris have found ways around that. And then some writers for kids decide to go about it in an entirely different way. Let's take the P.O.V. of the settlers. Better still, the James Town settlers. Best of all, the boy assigned to be the servant of that remarkable personal publicity machine and self-promoter, Captain John Smith himself. For what she has set out to do, author Elisa Carbone has done an admirable job. I may not agree with whether or not this was a job that needed to be done, but I can appreciate the work she's put into "Blood On the River".

Samuel Collier is on a one-way street to nowhere. He's a thief, a fighter, and he doesn't trust anyone or anything. As it happens, however, this is an ideal resume for a kid who's about to be sent to the New World as the personal assistant to Captain John Smith. Samuel is cunning and ready to knock someone's teeth out should the need arise. Yet as Smith himself points up, there's no place for people of a solitary nature in Virginia. With the danger of Indian raids ever present and harsh winters ahead, Samuel must learn to trust people and, what's more, trust himself. Along the way he observes John Smith's deft hand with dealing with both Native people and frightened settlers. This is the story of James Town, Smith, Pocahontas, and Samuel Collier backed up by historical references and a whole heaping lot of written records, such as they are.

Much of this book cleared up questions I would have had about the original founding of James Town, had I ever thought to wonder them. Why, for example, did the Virginia Company keep sending people to that death trap otherwise known as Virginia? The answer may be that letters home could only talk about the good things about living in the New World. It was a classic case of good publicity vs. bad publicity, with shady means winning out. I also enjoyed hearing how the Algonquian word, "Wow!", joined our current vocabulary. Carbone even takes pains to justify this term, even the face of those who claim it come from old Scottish. She makes a strong case, and I for one fully believe she's correct in her assumptions.

The story did worry me from time to time. Sometimes, it all comes down to historical accuracy in direct opposition with our current stance on white colonialism. When John Smith refers to the Indians as "savages" you know it's historically correct, if problematic. And then there's the fact that Smith is always outsmarting the Indians left and right. When they come to trade for weapons he offers them too heavy cannons and, when they can't lift them, exchanges them for lightweight beads. But if it's true... which brings us to determining what is and isn't true.

Carbone's Bibliography, source material, cited works, and background information are intense. No one could ever accuse this author for fudging her facts. But what are "facts" anyway? Time and again Carbone uses the only existing written record, trustworthy and not. As she mentions in her Author's Note, the book includes a section where a thresher and a swordfish kill a whale. This was written down at the time, so she included it, "And yet I have heard that fish don't act this way". This might not be such a big deal. So fish do one thing and the person she's referencing at this moment said another. Who cares? Well, it becomes a little more important when it comes down to people. After all, "the modern-day Carib Indians say those stories about their ancestors being cannibals are nothing but lies". Carbone mentions this, but then goes on to make the Indians out to be cannibals anyway! As for John Smith, he was a notorious exaggerator, using the "facts" in the loosest sense of the term. Sometimes this is a good idea. The ceremony that was interpreted as Pocahontas "saving" John Smith's life is explained here as something Smith could have misinterpreted at the time. And Carbone really does do a good job at showing the delicate nature of balancing out the colonists needs and the Indians. That is, until the colonists just stop caring and go around slaughtering people. Even with a book that takes John Smith's side, it's not hard to figure out who to root for.

Not too long ago I heard a group of librarians discussing this book. By and large they enjoyed it, but one scene in particular struck them as a little peculiar. At one point ten-year-old Pocahontas comes into James Town and challenges Sam and the other boys to races. Then, in order to beat them, she removes her dress and is completely naked. Now you would think that considering the time period in which this takes place, the fact that these boys are from England, and the mores of the era that this would at least raise an eyebrow, if not freak out the boys entirely. Instead they proceed without so much as a whimper. Uh-huh. Suuuure.

In her Author's Note, Carbone talks about how her novel "Storm Warriors" won the Virginia Jefferson Cup Award. As a result, she was able to go about asking people all over the state what kind of story she should write next. "The answer came over and over: Jamestown. I thought, That old story? John Smith and Pocahontas AGAIN? Booooooring!". But it's not. Not at all. I may have some qualms and quibbles, but in the end it's well-researched. Perhaps Carbone would do well to follow it up with a non-fiction title on the subject.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Teacher's Perspective, December 7, 2007

By	J.R. (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood on the River: James Town, 1607 (Paperback)

I am reading this book aloud to my fourth grade class. All fourth graders in our state study Virginia History, and we just finished covering Jamestown. This book is bringing the story alive to them more than anything else has before... including a trip to the settlement site itself! They are begging for me to read everyday. This book is historically factual and absolutely riveting. It is a must have for adults and kids alike! Well done, Ms. Carbone!