The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz

This past summer, my daughter began to study American History at home to see how we would do together with homeschooling. When we got to the settlement of Jamestown, I felt the need to explain to her that Pocahontas wasn’t like the Pocahontas in the Disney movie. My daughter asked if there was something we could watch or read that told the true story of Pocahontas. So I began looking for a biography. I contacted Riva at a local used book store, Title Wave Books, for some suggestions. One of the books she recommended was The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz. My daughter and I both found the book interesting. In fact, we were reading the book together, but my daughter stayed up late reading ahead of me because we weren’t moving fast enough. Fritz gives us a fascinating read while not leaving out the important historical details about John Smith, Jamestown, the Powhatan, Pocahontas’ marriage to John Rolfe, her time in England, and her death. A few weeks after reading this book, we visited the recreated settlement of Jamestown Fort and a Powhatan Indian village. A lot of what we saw there confirmed the facts in this biography. We were able to turn to each other and say, “I remember that from the book!” Fritz is an award-winning author who has a way of making history relevant and alive. Four out of four bookworms.