Adopting a casual, colloquial tone, Messner dismantles one received truth after another, drawing on a variety of resources and evidence to give readers the “real-deal story of the Mayflower” and its storied passengers.

Never underestimating the capacity of her readers, she begins with a brief history of the Reformation in England before following William Brewster’s group of separatists as they eventually made their way to the shores of Massachusetts and seized Wampanoag land for their colony. Shifting tone as appropriate, copious sidebars include a discussion on the relative reliability of primary sources, the inglorious history of Plymouth Rock, and modern efforts to reclaim the Wampanoag language, Wôpanâak. Quotations from primary sources are presented in an antique-looking display type and then translated into modern English: “ ‘[The mussels] caused us to cast and scour, but they were soon all well again.’ —Edward Winslow / Translation: They threw up and had diarrhea but felt better in a while.” Most notable is the care with which Messner covers relations between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag; her description of first contact is brilliant in its refusal to cast the Indigenous people as other: “After [Myles Standish and his party had] gone about a mile, they saw five or six people and a dog.” Meconis’ humorous cartoons—sometimes presented as comics-style paneled sequences—complement archival illustrations, which readers are frequently invited to examine critically. The second in the History Smashers series, Women’s Right To Vote, publishes simultaneously.

Critical, respectful, engaging: exemplary history for children. (author's note, further reading, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

-Kirkus Review

Entertaining, fast-paced, and true - the perfect combination for history for young readers. ( )

This collaboration by Kate Messner and Dylan Meconis, "with special thanks to Linda Coombs," is a fantastic and necessary anecdote to much of what is taught about the Pilgrims (Separatists) who came over on the Mayflower and their relationship with the Wampanoag people who already inhabited what was then Patuxet and is now Plymouth.

Through informative narrative text, maps, short excerpts from primary sources (all "translated"), and even short comics sections, Messner and Meconis tell the real story - more clearly, in more detail, and more entertainingly than any textbook I've ever seen.

Back matter includes author's note, resources (books and websites), an extensive bibliography, image credits, and an index.

See also: the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis (historical fiction)

Quotes/Notes

A primary source is a firsthand account of something that happened, written by someone who was directly involved in it. Historians generally consider primary sources to be the most valuable references for understanding history. (17)

Doctrine of Discovery, based on a 1452 decree from the Pope, popular by 1620; non-Christians weren't seen as human beings. (26)

Mayflower passengers Elizabeth Tilley and John Howland married and had ten children; their descendants include three presidents (FDR and both Bushes). (40)

...historians believe the Mayflower's living space was about eighty feet long and twenty-four feet wide [about the size of a high school basketball court cut in half the long way]. Now imagine living in that space for over two months with 101 people, animals, and supplies. (52)

The Pilgrims didn't speak the Wampanoag language or understand Wampanoag culture. Also, it's important to remember that the English were aiming to colonize, or take over, the land. That was more difficult to justify if you had to admit you were stealing it from people who had lived there successfully for thousands of years. So in some of their documents, the English had an interest in describing the Wampanoag people as less advanced than they really were. (93)

Wampanoag people had the knowledge and ability to make everything they needed for their lives. The gathered all materials for their houses, clothing, furnishings, tools, weapons, boats, and jewelry of all kinds. (101)

In Wampanoag culture, the land was understood as a dish or bowl from which everyone could eat. In other words, the land took care of everyone. It wasn't viewed as anyone's "property." The Creator owned the land, so people couldn't own it, any more than they could own the water or the air. (165) ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr.

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