Blood on the River: James Town, 1607

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Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone

Four hundred years ago, a boy arrived in America . . .

Samuel Collier came from nothing. A street urchin, an orphan, and even a thief, he seems headed for a life in the alleys of London. So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the ship the Susan Constant, bound for the New World, he can't believe his good fortune. He's heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he had ever imagined.

The lush Virginia shore where they settle is both beautiful and forbidding, and it's hard to know who is friend or foe.

Based on the true story of the settlement of Jamestown, Blood on the River brings to life a significant time in American history.

Blood on the River: James Town 1607

ISBN 0-670-06060-7
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Awards and Honors for Blood on the River:

  • International Reading Association Teacher's Choices for 2007
  • Winner of the Virginia Library Association's 2007 Jefferson Cup Award
  • Virginia Reader's Choice Middle School list 2007 - 2008
  • School Library Journal Best Books of  2006
  • San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of the Season, Fall 2006
  • 2007 ALA Best Book for Young Adults discussion list
  • Junior Library Guild selection
  • Scholastic Book Club Literature Circle edition
  • *Starred Review Kirkus
  • *Starred Review School Library Journal
  • Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award (Illinois) Nominee 2009
  • Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award Nominee 2009
  • Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Nominee 2008
  • Georgia Peach Children's Book Award Nominee 2008-09
  • Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee 2009
  • Kentucky Bluegrass Award Master List 2008
  • Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee 2008-09
  • South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee 2008-09
  • South Dakota Prairie Pasque Children's Book Award Nominee 2008-09
  • Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award Nominee 2008-09
  • Capitol Choices Award nominee
  • Beacon of Freedom Award nominee

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Study Guide - for teachers and discussion leaders

Releated Links

Fairfax Network's 30 minute educational television program on Blood on the River: View/Order

 
Reviews and Praise

"The best book on Jamestown for young readers, complete with a compelling story and characters you care deeply about. Jamestown will no longer merely be a topic to be studied; it will be experienced in the pages of this book and remain with the reader forever."
-Joan Kindig, Asst. Professor of Reading and Children's Literature, University of Virginia

"Good use is made of eyewitness accounts in a telling that far transcends the usual dry textbook summaries of the period. While learning much history, readers will find characters real enough to care about. Lively historical fiction at its best."
~ Kirkus, STARRED review

"Skillfully blending historical figures like Pocahontas, writings from Smith and others, tremendous research, and vivid storytelling, this is an outstanding read . . . As entertaining as it is educational, peopled with compelling characters and exciting plot twists, this book belongs on every shelf." ~ Children's Literature

"Gripping historical fiction . . . a strong, visceral story of the hardship and peril settlers faced as well as the brutal realities of colonial conquest." ~ Booklist