The Lost Colony of Roanoke - Hardcover

Jean Fritz, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Homesick, is best known for her engaging and enlightening nonfiction for young readers, including What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?, And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?, and Shh! We're Writing the Constitution. She was honored with the Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature by the New York State Library Association, and won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her career contribution to American children's literature.

Grade 4-6-This fluidly written account describes the colony founded under the aegis of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. The opening section, "Looking," discusses the first attempt at settling the island and highlights the English policy regarding the Native population: "Never turn the other cheek" and "smite [hostile Indians] hip and thigh." When harsh conditions caused the men to return to England in 1586, 15 individuals were left behind to hold the colony. "Settling" describes how the second expedition arrived in 1587 and found the men gone, perhaps victims of the "hip and thigh" policy. The travails of these settlers began on landing and continued unabated until Governor John White agreed to sail to England to get help. "Lost" details White's frustrated attempts to get back to Virginia, and what he found when he finally returned two years later. In the final chapter, Fritz explores various theories about Roanoke's fate. She discusses the 1937 hoax involving stones with counterfeited inscriptions as well as current archaeological and historical exploration. Talbott's softly colored watercolor illustrations, ranging from cameo insets to two-page paintings, are at once detailed and impressionistic. Clever touches of humor abound. This book is superior to existing works such as Dan Mabry Lacy's The Lost Colony (Watts, 1972; o.p.). Fritz has scored again, making history breathe while showing both historians and archaeologists at their reconstructive best.
Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA
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