Elizabeth George Speare

A young woman brought up in Barbados comes to live with her uncle in Connecticut, and finds their Puritan way of life difficult after her unconventional upbringing.

SUMMARY: A historical novel based on an actual narrative. In 1754, on the brink of the French and Indian war, young Miriam Willard and her older sister's family are captured in an Indian raid on Charleston, N.H., where they are held for ransom.

The father of a colonial family seeking a new and promising life in the deep wilderness of Maine in 1763 reluctantly leaves his 13-year-old son alone in the wilderness to protect their claim until he can return with the rest of the family and their belongings.