Samuel Collier came from nothing. A street urchin, an orphan, and even a thief, he seems headed for a life in the alleys of London.  So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the Susan Constant, bound for the New Words, he can't believe his good fortune. He's heard that gold washes ashore with every tide.  But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, Samuel realizes that the NEw World is nothing like he imagined. The lush Virginia shore where they settle is both beautiful and forbidding, and it's hard to know who's friend or foe. The settlers' troubles are just beginning -- the summer of 1607 brings mysterious illness, and winter brings starvation. It's soon clear to Samuel that the ways of the English don't always work in this unfamiliar land. The settlers need to find new ways. As he learns the languages of the Algonquian Indians and observes Captain Smith's wise diplomacy, Samuel begins to see that he can be whomever he wants to be in this new land.