The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland's Good Fortune

Gr 3–6—Lynch brings to vivid life the well-known story of the Pilgrims through the adventures and voice of John Howland. As a young man, Howland came across the Atlantic on the Mayflower as an indentured servant of John Carver, who would later become the first governor of the new colony. The book is told from Howland's first-person perspective, with plenty of dialogue. Some of Howland's story is familiar: the journey of the Mayflower, the trials of the new colony, the first encounters with the Wampanoag, Squanto's assistance, and the eventual peace that culminated in a Thanksgiving feast. Yet Lynch includes other information, such as the Speedwell, a ship from Holland that was intended to travel alongside the Mayflower; details of the life of indentured servants; the politics of the creation of the Mayflower Compact; the harrowing death rate of the new colony; and Howland's trajectory to personal commitment to the colony and to God. Coupled with richly detailed and often dramatic watercolor and gouache illustrations, Lynch's fast-paced text brings a new excitement to the Thanksgiving story.