Imagine being thirteen years old, alone on a ship of strangers, sailing to the New World to start a new life in Jamestown.

That’s what happened to Thomas Savage in 1607. But he wasn't in the colony long before the fiery Captain John Smith asked Thomas to live with the Algonquians, learn their language and become an interpreter between the English and the Indians.

Thomas didn’t mind. In Jamestown, the settlers were always arguing and complaining. The Indian King Powhatan treated him kindly and Thomas became friends with Pocahontas, who was only a few years younger.

But the Indians and the settlers didn’t always get along, and despite Thomas's friendship with Powhatan, he was put in the middle of many conflicts—some violent.

Thomas Savage's little-known life offers Jean Fritz the perfect opportunity to share fascinating details of this early American history as Jamestown marks its 400th anniversary in 2007.

From the dust jacket