Enemy in the Fort

ENEMY IN THE FORT provides a vivid glimpse of life on the New England frontier during the French and Indian War. The action begins in 1752, when Rebecca and Selinda are left homeless after an Indian raid on their family's farm. Their parents and baby brother are taken captive and their home is burned down. The girls are taken in by a sickly widow who lives inside the nearby fort. By 1754, Selinda has become indentured to another family living in the fort. At this time, the widow takes in Isaac, a settler boy who has been recaptured after being raised by the Indians. As the story develops, the family Selinda is indentured to decides to move to Connecticut. They insist on taking Selinda with them. Further, things have been disappearing from settler homes inside the fort, and some of the settlers are openly hostile towards Isaac. Rebecca's effort to prevent her sister from being taken away becomes entangled in the series of thefts. Is Isaac responsible for the thefts? Can Rebecca keep Selinda from being separated from her?As with other tales in the "History Mystery" series, the reader is drawn into a genuine historical setting. The problems faced by the young protagonists are real and their resolution requires courage and resolve. This particular story also has a rather involved plot and requires the main character to re-examine some deeply held feelings and beliefs. In short, there's plenty here to hold your attention.I read this book with my daughter. She pushed to keep reading, so I know it caught and held her interest. When we finished it, however, her comment was that she didn't like it as much as some other books in the series, mostly because she didn't like the ending. I can understand her feelings. Some aspects of the story aren't tied up as neatly as a young reader might wish. For example, no immediate price is paid for the theft of Rebecca's spoons, nor does she recover them. The outcome is realistic, given the circumstances, but not entirely satisfying. I, on the other hand, thought the involved plot, complex characterization, and realistic ending made this one of the best books in the "History Mystery" series. You be the judge. At the least, I think you'll find this story isn't easy to put down.

All ten-year-old Rebecca Percy and her younger sister Selinda could do was watch in horror from their hiding place as Abenaki Indians captured their parents and baby brother and burned their New Hampshire frontier home to the ground one dark night in 1752. Two years later, the sisters live with the kind Widow Tyler at a nearby fort. Rebecca helps with chores, and Selinda has hired herself out as a maid to the cruel Cutter family. At the same time that the sisters learn that the Cutters plan to return to civilization before Selinda's contract is up, and plan to take Selinda with them, the soldiers bring a boy rescued from captivity among the Abenaki to the fort. Widow Tyler takes the boy, Isaac, in. But after spending most of his childhood in captivity, Isaac is more Indian than English, and seems to want to return to the Abenaki family that adopted him after he was captured. Rebecca doesn't understand how Isaac, torn from his home to live among the people who killed his family, would chose to remain with his captors rather than return to the society he was born into. After a series of thefts in the fort, Rebecca is quick to suspect Isaac, especially after the one thing that she may be able to sell to buy back Selinda's contract is stolen. To find out what happens next, and to discover who the real thief is, and to find out if Rebecca can save Selinda, read this book! It's a wonderful new book from the History Mysteries series that I recommend to readers who enjoy historical fiction. In fact, it is one of my favorites from the series.