Kathleen Karr
Marshall Cavendish / 2005

Two boys, two cultures, one colony: 15-year-old Christopher West narrates this tale of British colonists who braved the Atlantic to become the first to arrive in the New World of Carolina. The others who welcome them—Sewee Indians—fascinate Christopher. He soon makes fast friends with Asha-po, a young Sewee his own age. Asha-po teaches Christopher to hunt, and Christopher teaches Asha-po to play chess. Too soon, tension develops between the tribe and the colonists, with the boys stuck in the middle. This action packed adventure, filled with marauding Spaniards, warring Indian tribes, and family conflict is based on records from the actual colony, and echoes the trials that faced the first European settlers in a strange new world.