This came to mind because a neighbor was telling stories about his relation to Stephen Hopkins. I thought "wasn't that the father..." and indeed it was. My library has weeded this book, which vexed me greatly, because...

I feel like modern YA authors often borrow from that terrible interview question: "What is one of your weaknesses?" You know, the one where you say something like "I'm OCD about deadlines" and they're supposed to think that's a good thing.

So many authors often seem to think "My protagonist can't be perfect. They need a fault," so they give them a character trait like, say, being an introvert. But then, at the end of the book, it's that very "negative" trait that attracts the main guy/gets them the job/saves the country.

Constance(the character) is rude, proud, racist, vain, and negative. And I love it. Not because those are qualities that we should strive for, but because Clapp walks us on a journey of growth in a lot of those areas. She doesn't do it perfectly and, at the end, Constance is still far from perfect, but we are shown that, yes, people have nasty traits and yes people can change. There's a point where one of the settlers does something terrible. And Constance and a friend are talking about that person and they get to that event and, because of the uncomfortableness of it, essentially say "I don't know what to think and I'm just going to pretend that nasty thing didn't happen because I can't really deal with it." Clapp is very aware, not perfectly, but largely, of the way human beings behave when asked to look back at the sticky, nasty, morally-reprehensible events of life---we justify, ignore, evade it because we don't like dealing with the conflict. I thought that her portrayal was very realistic---though not at all one we should emulate.

The middle-end-ish is a bit drawn out and boring, probably because not much historically seemed to happen, though I did like the discussion about fishing tactics.

FYI:
I'm a descendant of John Cooke- the guy who didn't get the girl. And, no, that's not a spoiler. You pretty much know by the second chapter. :)

Also am very disappointed that they're marketing this (on the GR blurb) as a romance... it is, at the end, but the first half is mostly, well, not. I mean, 50+ people die.

One of my favorite books of all times, omg. I try to read this once a year or so. Funny story: I had to read this in sixth grade, after which we took a field trip to Plimoth Plantation. "Constance" was on the Mayflower while we were there, and I started asking her about all kinds of stuff that happened in the book - gossip about other pilgrims, etc. She just looked at me like I had two heads....I felt really dumb. My teacher just stood there and kept prodding me to ask more - mean!

I have always enjoyed this book. Particularly as the main character, Constance Hopkins is one of great-grandmothers.

I love this book so much.

This was a childhood favorite of mine, and I was not disappointed reading it all these years later. This book imagines the life of a real Mayflower passenger, Constance Hopkins, who came to Plymouth as a teenager. I really appreciated the way that she is characterized in this book; the author does not try to pin down her character too much or make her unrealistically consistent, which I feel is a common problem in depicting teenage girls. Constance is at once curious, coquettish, kindly, selfish, playful, and discreet. My favorite scene is after she shares her first kiss on a beach and then promptly moves on to dinner: "I do love turkey!"

The book shies away from sentimental romance and instead explores Constance's education in the pleasures and pitfalls of flirting, as well as delving into the tragedies, triumphs, and anxieties in Plymouth colony. The book is marvelously well researched, and does not oversimplify the colony's heterogeneity (for example, Constance's family are not Pilgrims or Puritans--and they were not coerced into Pilgrim worship). Of course, treatment of the Indian-Pilgrim relations are problematic at times, but I can't expect more given the publication date.

Overall, this book holds up well as historical fiction, and as the bildungsroman of a complex teenage girl.

One of my favorite books. Being a descendant of Elizabeth Tilley Howland and John Howland, it was interesting to see what life would have been like for them, not to mention the fact that Constance mentions them a few times in the course of the book as she and Priscilla are friends with them. It is also a bit of a love story, which makes the romance of it even better.