Piper

Piper by Jacqueline Halsey is a wonderful book that is a real learning experience. The book is about Piper and his experience on what it would have been like for the Scottish to come to New Scotland on the Hector in 1773. The book is very realistic.

Piper is a wonderful realistic fiction book for upper elementary students to complement their studies in 18th-century North American (or Post-Jacobean Scottish) history.

Nearly the entire narrative takes place on the Hector, which from the very start sets a tone for anxiety and dread. The boat is half-rotted, tiny, and the captain squeezes as many people as he can into the hold of the ship (5 people to one bunk).  Add to that smallpox, the doldrums, and a hurricane, and you have a recipe for an exciting-yet harrowing-tale that will keep the attention of any child and explain to them the horrors of travel before there were airplanes to cart the same amount of people in a matter of hours the same distance.  

The book also makes for a great comprehensive lesson plan that can include vocabulary words; social studies topics; science by way of physics, meteorology, and epidemiology; and, obviously, history.  I highly recommend it and hope for a hard copy version for publication to purchase for my local library.