1609: Winter of the Dead : A Novel of the Founding of Jamestown

Rating:
Summary: Winter of the Dead- overly grim and dark?
Review: Although this book was very informative and taught me a good deal about the first few years in James Towne and the hardships the colonists suffered, I found that it was overly dark and scary. I appreciated the historical accuracy, such as when John Smith was injured, but, especially nearing the end, I found it very horrific. I know that this is what it was really like, but to have John Ratcliffe tortured to death, Nicholas Skot cannibalize a fourteen-year-old boy's corpse, and Peter Scott tortured into confessing that he murdered his wife and then burned at the stake all in quick succession, while myriads of people are dying all around them all the time was simply to much. I am thirteen years old and didn't sleep well at all after I read this book. I would recommend it for those who have a strong stomach.

Rating:
Summary: A Really Great Book of Adventure and History
Review: I live in Yorktown and am in middle school and my favorite books to read are historical novels. This one is about Virginia history but also American history. It is about two boys who come to Jamestown in 1607 and settle with the other men like John Smith. Nathaniel, the main guy who was an orphan in England, likes to be left alone. He is strong and brave when terrible things happen to him and to the colony. John Smith, who he likes at first, really gets on his nerves but I won't say why because you need to find that out yourself. Nat learns a lot of things and even falls in love when a new ship comes in 1609 and a new girl arrives. The author makes everything seem really real and I think anyone would like this book, and all ages.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Historical Novel for Young Adults
Review: I was so pleased to find this book! As a teacher, I found it compliments our study of Jamestown and the infancy of what would, in almost two hundred more years, become the United States perfectly. Although a fictional account of one of the boys who did, in fact, come over with the first three ships, it includes actual events faced by actual historical figures...Smith, Archer, Newport, Radcliffe, Pocahontas, and more. The book is well-researched and engaging, with lively dialogue that hints of old-style conversation, excellent detail, action, and adventure. My seventh grade students found the story fascinating as we read it over a period of two weeks. They were as interested in this as much they would be any well-told tale. They learned about the hardships, the struggles and occasional friendships the English forged with the Native Americans, the reasons for the English settlement and the fear of the Spanish, the terrible death of Archer and the wounding of Smith, the sickness and starvation in the "Starving Time", the desperation of the settlers -- all true events -- while feeling an empathy for teenaged Nat and his efforts to become a man in a foreign, difficult world. Some of my students even asked if there was a sequel to this book, so I directed them to history books that picked up after 1609, and they dove right in! What a way to get kids hooked on history! I highly recommend this for teachers of early American history or students who are looking for an teen adventure set in American history!