Historical Coming of Age Adventures

Survival, Friendship, and Finding Courage

This series follows the lives of several young people as they emigrate to and struggle to survive in early colonial America in the mid-seventeenth century. As these young people must navigate stormy seas, outwit treacherous men, and survive devastating wars, they will learn the value of friendship, forgiveness, and courage. They provide multiple perspectives of historical events from the points of view of the people who lived them.

Based on a true story. In the award-winning novel, Thrown to the Wind, nine-year-old Etienne flees 1660 France with his family avoiding arrest for religious heresy to face robbers, pirates, two perilous sea voyages, and an uncertain future.

In book two, A Home in the Wilderness, a true story, twelve-year-old Etienne tries to survive in the 1663 untamed wilderness of New Netherlands facing conflicts with the Esopus tribe, divided loyalties, and danger to family and his Lenape friends.

In book three, At the Mercy of the Sea, thirteen-year-old Etienne takes to the sea again to repay his family’s debts, falling in with pirates, while his friends, Alsoomse and Abraham, each struggle to find their own places within their communities.

In book four, Charting a New Course, Etienne finds himself marooned on an island in the Caribbean in 1664 fighting disease, raids, slavery, and an unforgiving wilderness to find his way home, while back on Long Island, Abraham must rescue his little brother, Caleb, from an accused witch and a disastrous indentureship.

For the Audiobooks, click the images below  to purchase.

And checkout the interdisciplinary teacher resources designed to develop critical thinking skills that accomplany them.