James Printer

VOYA - Mary B. McCarthy

Early wars between the colonists and Native Americans were among the bloodiest of conflicts in American history, with cruelty, bloodlust, and judicial atrocities witnessed on both sides. Caught in the middle of these conflicts were Native Americans attempting to build lives within the colonial culture. Bartholmew Green, son of the government printer for the colony of Massachusetts, narrates this tale of his family and their Nipmuck apprentice. James the Printer, named after the craft he was apprenticed for, is mentioned in histories of the time but little is known of his printing contributions and later decision to fight for King Philip (Metacomet). James Printer's dedication to the colonists and the craft of printing is clear, but this story glosses over the cultural genocide John Eliot inflicted in the name of religion. The praying villages' strict rules and punishments are not mentioned, nor are readers led to question why James so easily left his native culture. This is, however, a moving story of one artist, the son of a converted native, who was allied with the colonists from an early age. He joined King Philip's battles against the colonists only after the white society he had chosen turned against him. The telling of James Printer's story was long overdue, and the author portrays him with sensitivity and a reverence for print culture. The lives of the Green printing dynasty, the creation of the Eliot Indian Bible, and the everyday details of a colonial print shop are historically accurate and well researched. The characters of Bartholemew and his feminist cousin Annie will help pull younger readers into the story, and their enthusiasm for printing may generate interest in revival letterpress printing. We all share the wonder of the printed word and through this tale, readers are shown the persuasive importance of print in our violent, news-hungry past. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Will appeal with pushing, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

VOYA - Mary Ojibway

This is an interesting tale of a little-explored piece of American history. Set in 1675, the young narrator, Bartholomew Green, describes the effect of King Philip's War on his family and particularly on his father's printer apprentice, James. An Indian of the Nipmuck tribe, James was raised as an Englishman in Cambridge. This novel tells the story of his agonizing situation when war erupts. His heart lies with the people he has known his whole life, but many of the townsfolk regard the so-called praying Indians as "no more than heathens in English dress." As the war progresses, James is viciously attacked by cruel Captain Moseley, runs away, and is captured and unjustly imprisoned. After his release, James joins King Philip, becoming his interpreter and scribe. He helps free Bartholomew's cousin Annie from captivity, turns himself in to colonial authorities, and is exiled. By book's end Bartholomew is a grown man and a printer like his father, and he asks James to join him in producing an Indian psalm book. Prejudice, loyalty, violence, and peace are all issues encountered in reading this novel. The later chapters lose some of the intimacy and drama as the narrator relates too many events secondhand or packs too many events on top of one another with little discussion. Jacobs presents the colonialists as either good or evil; the good colonialists are Indian lovers; the evil ones are Indian haters. James's difficulties in choosing sides is well examined, but the author does not examine the genuine conflicts the English might feel. In spite of this weakness, the novel adds historical detail and an added perspective to a little-studied time of American history. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P M (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8).

Children's Literature - Sheree Van Vreede

His "day of awakening" has come. It is 1675, and eleven-year-old Bartholomew embarks on a journey from Cambridge to Boston. His twelve-year-old cousin, Annie, and his father's print shop apprentice, James, accompany him. James is a Nipmuck Indian who is both Bartholomew's friend and teacher. Readers follow on this adventure as Bartholomew comes to learn that the world is full of prejudices. Tensions between the white settlers and the Indians have increased, and James is forced to choose between them. Heart-wrenching and realistic, this book does not sugarcoat the trials people face, whether it is 1675 or today.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9In 1675, King Philip's War erupted in New England, wreaking havoc on colonists and Indians alike. Bartholomew Green, the young narrator of this novel, describes the effect of this war on his familyand particularly on his father's Indian apprentice, James. As the war progresses, James is viciously attacked by cruel Captain Moseley, runs away, and is captured and unjustly imprisoned. After his release, James joins King Philip as an interpreter and scribe. He helps free Bartholomew's cousin Annie from captivity, turns himself in to colonial authorities, and is exiled. At book's end, Bartholomew, now grown and a printer like his father, asks James to join him in producing an Indian psalm book. Naive, innocent Bartholomew is an intriguing contrast to the older James, who is trusting and lighthearted as the story opens, but wary and somber when the war concludes. This is an interesting and unusual tale about a little-known segment of American history. Issues of prejudice and loyalty, violence and peace, faith and honor permeate the book. Unfortunately, it loses its immediacy and drama in the later chapters as too many events are either related secondhand or piled on top of one another with little discussion. Jacobs is also black-and-white in his presentation of the colonists. They're either Indian-lovers and good, like the Greens, or Indian-haters and evil, like Moseley. Although James's difficulties in choosing sides are well examined, the author doesn't delve into the genuine conflicts the English might feel. Despite these weaknesses, James Printer remains a thought-provoking study of colonial America.Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Jacobs (Sleepers, Wake, 1991) makes clear the tragedy of an artist inhibited by the circumstances of his birth in this unusual historical novel, set during a brutal English-Indian war in 17th-century Massachusetts.

James Printer is a Nipmuck Indian who is taken in and reared by Master Henry Dunster at Harvard College after the boy's mother dies. The day he first sees a book, "a thing covered in leather and divided into thin, white pieces like leaves," is "the first day of my life." He becomes an apprentice in the printing shop of Samuel Green, whose 11-year-old son, Bartholomew, narrates. Wise, dignified, and gentle, James is caught in the war and forced to flee. Bartholomew struggles with his own mastery of printing, dotes on his cousin Annie, and documents the penny-pinching complaints of his father in a manner suggestive of contemporary children rolling their eyes at their parents. He witnesses the extreme brutality of warfare: hangings and beheadings, with heads perched on sticks as gruesome trophies. Through Bartholomew, Jacobs elucidates the nature of war, of good men, and evil ones, and makes his discussions intensely accessible to readers. The story moves swiftly to the gratifying depiction of the production of the second Indian Bible. In an afterword, Jacobs describes his contact with one of Printer's books, an encounter that only makes this novel more vital.