James Smith, Four Years a Mohawk

With the French and Indian War closing in, sixteen-year-old James Smith and a friend are sent to cut a road for the British supply wagon, The young men must take care as they work. Even so, they are attacked and James is suddenly taken away from everything he knows. He becomes Scoouwa, an adopted Mohawk, but will he decide to stay with his new family or return to his Scots-Irish family on the Pennsylvania frontier? This is the struggle that James faces … only he can decide his future. The dangers of colonial America are alive in this suspenseful young adult historic fiction based on the actual journal of James Smith, whose capture by Indians, and subsequent four-year struggle to survive, is delivered with authenticity and passion. I couldn’t put it down. -Mark H. Newhouse, award-winning author This book kept me wondering what would happen to James. It was very exciting and a must read for history fans. - Brady Joseph, eighth-grade student