The Mayflower and the Pilgrims' New World Book

In stunning prose, Nathaniel Philbrick evokes the drama of the voyage of the Mayflower and the eerie emptiness of coastal Massachusetts that greeted the Pilgrims. He tells how the settlers were able to gain the friendship of many powerful Native American leaders, including the charismatic Massasoit, and how they worked together to maintain peace. But the promise of the First Thanksgiving was broken with the next generation of leaders. Fifty-six years after the Mayflower's landing, a horrifying conflict, known today as King Philip's war, nearly wiped out the colonists and Natives alike, and forever altered the new country.

The Mayflower and the Pilgrims' New World is the perfect introduction for young readers to this epic story, at once tragic and heroic. Adapted specially for middle-grade readers, this book features a wealth of supplemental materials such as new maps and photographs, a time line, and a list of characters for added comprehension and accessibility.

VOYA

Philbrick adapts his bestseller Mayflower: A Story of Community, Courage, and War (Viking, 2006) for young adult audiences here. Philbrick splits the book into three parts titled Discovery, which traces their journey and arrival; Community, which describes their relations with each other and the Indians; and War, which examines the causes and results of King Philip's war. Philbrick often refers to firsthand documents, explaining their significance in tracing the story though the generations of Pilgrims and Indians, providing a fair account of the interaction and conflict between the groups and why their early partnership collapsed into war. Philbrick uses a narrative style that does an amazing job of drawing in readers, keeping them captivated by a story that reads more like fiction than nonfiction. With only a few slow parts, the momentum carries the reader through at a steady pace. Details are introduced to the story commonly taught in texts to expand upon the basics, providing a more complete picture of early life and history in America. Added to this edition is a collection of helpful maps and pictures of various artifacts that the Pilgrims used, creating an even more vivid picture of the world the Pilgrims lived in. This book makes an excellent addition to the classroom or any bookshelf. Reviewer: Susan Hampe