Warbird

Ten-year-old Etienne Chouart yearns for a life of adventure far from his family farm. While delivering chickens to the Jesuit Mission, he meets an orphan destined reluctantly to apprentice at Fort Sainte Marie, the furthest settlement north in New France. Making the most impulsive decision of his life, Etienne invites the boy back to his home. At the crack of dawn, it is Etienne, not the orphan, who paddles out into the St. Lawrence with voyageur Medard des Groseilliers into the very heart of Huron country. Arriving safely at Sainte Marie, Etienne must learn to live a life of piety, following the example of Father Bressani, Father Daniel, and Father Jean de Brebeuf. Meanwhile, Etienne makes friends with a Huron youth named Tsiko, who carries the Christian name Thomas. From him, Etienne learns skills important to true wilderness life. Warbird is exciting historical fiction for readers nine to twelve.