Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 06/01/2020 Challenging misconceptions with historical research, Messner proves that she’s ready, willing, and entirely able to debunk almost everything you think you know about the Mayflower, the Pilgrims, and the “first Thanksgiving.” Planning to bolster your beliefs with primary-source documents? Think again, since those letters and journal entries were written by recent immigrants to North America, Europeans who didn’t understand the Wampanoag people’s language or culture but arrogantly assumed that it was inferior to their own. Well-researched, entertaining, and packed with facts, this account begins with a group of English separatists attempting to flee to Holland and ends after King Philip’s War in 1676, when the English colony’s governor sold their defeated captives (men, women, and children) into slavery. Some elements extend the story into the twenty-first century: a sidebar explaining how a Wampanoag woman revitalized Wôpanâak, the traditional language of her people, and created an immersion school for the community’s children. Photos, paintings, and cartoon-style drawings illustrate the text. Published simultaneously with Women’s Right to Vote, it’s a promising start for the History Smashers series. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.