The first colony planted in North America was on Roanoke Island in 1597. The company who planted this colony promised to return the following year with supplies and more people. However England went to war that year and the supply ships were taken by the king to help in the war effort. It was over three years before the ships returned to Roanoke Island. When they arrived not a trace of the colony was found. No one has ever been able to find out what happened to them. This book, although not about the Roanoke Island colony, takes a similar colony near that area and takes them through the trials that people in America faced in that period of time. The story starts with Milford and Doris Kipling, who are linguists, being asked by the king to go with the new colony to teach its leadership the language of the natives. After they have complete this task they were to return with the ships. The Kipling couple took their sixteen year old son, John, with them. After they complete their task John asked to stay for the rest of the year promising to return the next year with the ships. Of course the ships didnt return and John faced the perils and catastrophes that led he and his companion across North America. The trek across America is just a part of Johns adventure. The reader will enjoy several other adventures and meet many interesting characters along the way.