Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Fiction suggested by Lynnie
1660s: Bethia, 12 year old Puritan, and Caleb, young son of a chieftain, form a secret bond. Old ways vs new ways. Caleb eventually becomes the first Native American graduate of Harvard.
From Amazon – A tale of passion and belief, magic and adventure. Bethia Mayfield is a restless and curious young woman growing up in Martha’s vineyard in the 1660s amid a small band of pioneering English Puritans. At age twelve, she meets Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret bond that draws each into the alien world of the other.
Bethia’s father is a Calvinist minister who seeks to convert the native Wampanoag, and Caleb becomes a prize in the contest between old ways and new, eventually becoming the first Native American graduate of Harvard College.
Inspired by a true story and narrated by the irresistible Bethia, Caleb’s Crossing brilliantly captures the triumphs and turmoil of two brave, openhearted spirits who risk everything in a search for knowledge at a time of superstition and ignorance.