Collection: A Country for Castoffs

This series follows the life of several young people as they emigrate to and struggle to survive in early colonial America in the mid-seventeenth century. As these young people try to navigate stormy seas, outwit treacherous men, and survive devastating wars, they will learn the value of compassion, trust, forgiveness, and friendship. They provide multiple perspectives of historical events from the points of view of the people who lived them.

Based on a true story. In the award-winning novel, Thrown to the Wind, nine-year-old Etienne flees 1660 France with his family to avoid arrest for religious heresy. They face robbers, pirates, two perilous sea voyages, and an uncertain future to chart a new destiny.

In book two, A Home in the Wilderness, a true story, twelve-year-old Etienne and his family try to survive in the 1663 untamed wilderness of Manhattan. They face conflicts with the Esopus tribe, divided loyalties, and danger to family and Lenape friends.

In book three, At the Mercy of the Sea, thirteen-year-old Etienne takes to the sea again in 1663 to repay his family’s debts and falls in with pirates, while his friends, Alsoomse and Abraham, each struggle to find their own places within their communities.