My America: Our Strange New Land Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book One

For use in schools and libraries only. Young Lizzie keeps a journal of all her experiences in her new country in order to share them with her twin brother who had been unable to make the grueling journey across the sea due to an illness.

Writing about Jamestown, Virginia, enabled Patricia Hermes to work with some familiar material in a familiar setting. She says, "At one time, I lived in Tidewater, Virginia, just a few miles from the original Jamestown settlement. I remember how hot and humid the summers were there. I know about the bugs. I know about the winter cold. I know about the swaying pines and the whisper of the rivers and the sandy soil and the rich marshland alive with birds. "I also remember how lonely I first felt when I moved there. So, when I created Elizabeth and her twin brother, Caleb, I think I knew.