This upper-middle grade novel is a well-researched, fictionalized account of the relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith. The story is told with alternating chapters from the imagined diaries of Pocahontas and Smith. Joseph Bruchac adapts Smith’s diary entries from Smith’s real journal kept during his time in Virginia, and Pocahontas’ from historical ethnography conducted by Helen C. Roundtree and extensive conversations with the Algonquin community. Each Smith chapter begins with a quote from a contemporaneous author, and each Pocahontas chapter begins with a Powhatan story (which Bruchac has carefully reconstructed through ethnographic research). Bruchac is a highly respected children’s book author whose books regularly center Native American characters and stories. Bruchac himself is of Slovak and Abenaki descent. 

While a slight reach in reading level, this book is one of the most thoughtful fictionalized accounts of Pocahontas available to children. The alternating perspective chapters strongly highlight the Euro-centricity of the Pocahontas master narrative and help readers begin to understand how these multiple historical accounts fit together. Through the combination Bruchac’s extensive research and his knowledge of Algonquin traditions through personal experience, the portrayal of the Powhatan people in this book is thoughtful and rich. Bruchac’s version of the Pocahontas story does lean toward an understanding of Pocahontas as a peacekeeper between the Powhatan and the English, but this is done within the context of a complex portrait of Pocahontas as a character.

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