The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland's Good Fortune [Paperback]

“This feast of a book . . . will captivate readers from its opening double-page spread. . . . Sweeping and grand, this personal take on a familiar story is an engaging success.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Leaving the docks of London on the Mayflower as an indentured servant to Pilgrim John Carver, John Howland little knew that he was embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. By his great good fortune, John survived falling overboard on the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, and he earned his keep ashore by helping to scout a safe harbor and landing site for his bedraggled and ill shipmates. Would his luck continue to hold amid the dangers and adversity of the Pilgrims’ lives in New England? P.J. Lynch captures this pivotal moment in American history in precise and exquisite detail, from the light on the froth of a breaking wave to the questioning voice of a teen in a new world.Based on historical fact, this feast of a book, the first illustrator Lynch has authored as well, will captivate readers from its opening double-page spread...What sets this book apart from myriad Pilgrim stories is Howland's personal point of view, which helps readers enter into the tenor of the time, when the settlers' religious faith both motivated and sustained them, and the dramatic illustrations with their expert play of expression, composition, and light.Sweeping and grand, this personal take on a familiar story is an engaging success.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Lynch’s meticulous watercolor and gouache illustrations imbue the pages with cinematic energy. The opening birds-eye view of bustling 1620s London allows careful readers to spot a tiny Howland running through muddy streets on a clandestine errand; a later spread shows the Native Americans’ vantage from shadowy woods as they secretly watch the newlylS‚