The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland’s Good Fortune

In his authorial debut, Lynch (Mysterious Traveler) presents an intimate account of the Mayflower crossing and the Pilgrims’ first year in America. His imagined first-person narration by real-life indentured servant John Howland employs a zoom-lens focus in its description of pivotal episodes in the harrowing journey. One of these is Howland’s fall overboard: “Down and down I went into the darkness under the icy waves. It was quiet down there, no raging wind or rain like up above.” An eerie underwater blue-green spread shows Howland grasping for a submerged rope, the water’s surface and ship’s keel looming above. 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 newly arrived Pilgrims. Short chapters with straightforward titles chronologically segment a familiar story that has been personalized through stunning artwork and insightful storytelling. Ages 7–10. Agent: Clare Conville, Conville & Walsh Literary Agency. (Sept.)