Wendy Lawton’s latest in the Daughters of the Faith series reads more like historical fiction than biography, but it demonstrates a higher commitment to the historical than many juvenile biographies.
Pocahontas, princess of the Powhatan people, follows her innate curiosity and moral sense (rather than Disney-style romantic inclinations) to save and befriend Englishman John Smith and the colony at Jamestown. The story incorporates the realities of greed, suspicion, war and betrayal on levels appropriate for readers aged 8-12, as well as providing lessons of friendship, redemption and faith.
History leaves little evidence of whether Pocahontas’ conversion to Christianity was a matter of expediency or sincerity, but Lawton credibly depicts a touching series of Pocahontas’ encounters with the God of creation, which prepare her to hear the Christian message of forgiveness.
