From Publishers Weekly This densely layered, fast-paced historical novel encompasses an impressive range of settings, opening in 1758 in Highland Scotland and moving to a Virginia manor and then to a Cherokee village. Jamesina McKenzie, an educated daughter of Highland gentry, "will not learn to be a lady." Her father and brothers supported Bonnie Prince Charlie's bid for the English crown, and when they are murdered, Jamie must dress as a boy to avoid imprisonment. But in her disguise, she is thrust into even greater danger when a boat of "spiriters" abduct her for bonded servitude in America. Curry (Dark Shade) paints the corrupt injustice of indentured servitude and slavery, and she textures the varied settings with detail and colorful language. The cast is exotic (e.g., a regal African servant Royal who turns out to be a prince; a Cherokee warrior woman), but the relationships among the characters are not always convincing. Some readers may also find the final twists that lead Jamie home too convenient, but the likable, brave heroine and the energetic storytelling are well worth the suspension of disbelief. Ages 10-14. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Grade 5-8-Jamesina Mackenzie, 13, has been left in the care of relatives in the Scottish highlands while her father and youngest brother are in exile in France and her three other brothers fight with the British army in America. Fearing that she may be in danger because of the political situation and her father's loyalties, her grandfather allows her to pose as a boy. One day, Jamie and a friend are overtaken by spiriters-kidnappers who sell the young people they capture as bond slaves in America. Her companion is left for dead, and she is captured and spends the next several months in misery during the harrowing passage. Her captors are disappointed when they learn that she is a girl, one without skills, as she has come from a well-off family. She is finally sold, and the remainder of the book chronicles the unhappy and difficult time she spends working on a plantation in the Virginia Colony. In a satisfying, if somewhat far-fetched, ending, she is reunited with her brothers and the friend she thought dead. The story moves briskly and is packed with details about Jamesina's life. Initially, readers may be overwhelmed by the Scottish names, places, and history, but Curry does a good job of relating the frustration and unfairness of the situation that powerless Jamesina finds herself in. This is a solid piece of exciting prerevolutionary historical fiction with a courageous heroine.
