Blood on the River

Blood On the River by Elisa Carbone explains one boy’s voyage from England to the New World and how he deals with life there. Samuel Callier only wants to live with his mum and have a happy life. However, his mum is dead, he is in an orphanage, and is soon put on a ship to the New World, as the page of Captain John Smith. So, he hates everyone but soon learns making friends would be better. Then, Samuel must deal with life in the New World and try to stay alive. At the end, Samuel learns to open his heart to the world, and try to live through a new beginning in Virginia.

I have read 19 chapters, 2 sections, in Blood On the River, and so far the book is going great. First, I have many thoughts on the story so far. For example, for me, it was hard to get used to the fact that we are talking 400 years ago. It seemed strange that there were not very many pieces of technology and that weapons were swords and muskets. When I got used to this, I could focus on the other things that were happening and how action packed the story is. The text states, “ ‘Fire!’ someone shouts,...” This is an example of a lot of action.  Also, I have different thoughts on the characters. In the beginning of the book, I thought that Samuel was going to have a personality you might imagine a thief having. When I started reading, the text stated, “But the boys started calling me ‘thief’ and ‘jail rat’ and I knew only one way to settle the argument: with my fists.” He stole the locket, so that is why I assumed this. My prediction was wrong because now Samuel's getting along and behaving himself. Lastly, some of my thoughts have changed drastically. For example, before I started reading the book, I looked at it and thought that it was not going to be a very good book to read. When I read the back of the book, it didn’t sound like it would be a fun read. The back of the book straits, “400 years ago, a boy fought to survive in James Towne…” This didn’t sound like a promising beginning. However, after reading segment 1, I realized it was action packed and would be fun to read. These are my thoughts on the story, the characters, and my previous and current opinions.