The Ransom of Mercy Carter

by Caroline B. Cooney

Book Overview

Deerfield, Massachusetts is one of the most remote, and therefore dangerous, settlements in the English colonies. In 1704 an Indian tribe attacks the town, and Mercy Carter becomes separated from the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385326157
• ISBN13: 9780385326155
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 249 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

great read!

I thought this was one of my favorite books! The story is very interesting and a great book to do a school report on. The book is mainly about a girl named Mercy Carter who is about 11 and the time. One cold winter night, her town was taken over by a bunch of native americans. These Native Americans killed many in the town and took hundreds of captives. Their plan is to march all the way to Canada from Deerfield Massachusetts. When they get to the Native town, Mercy learns the Native's way of life, and learns to become a NAtive. She learns the language and everything. When ransom arrived for people in the Native town, will Mercy choose to become an Native, or go back to her home?

The Ransom of Mercy Carter

The Ransom of Mercy Carter was the best book I have read in a long time. It is about an 11 year old girl who lives in Deerfield, Massachusetts. She lives there with her stepmama and her father. Also with her siblings Benny, Marah, Tommy, John, and Sam. They are an English family living in this small village with many other families hiding from Indian raids. Then one night the indians come and take all the children that they can and many of the adults. Mercy's father is away buying things needed for the family. The indian's take almost every item belonging to the many families and burn all the buildings. Then they take the children and parents on a 3 hundred mile trek to Canada. Along the way many people become ill or hurt and die. Many are murdered out of pure hatred of the indians. Mercy and her family are spared all but her stepmama and Marah who are too weak and cry too much and have their lives taken by the indians. Then the indians take the children they want to adopt and go to their villages that they live in. The Carter family is completely seperated. Then it tells what happens to them in their lives and how they live. Mercy is torn between wanting to be ransomed and staying with the indians. I really enjoyed this because it told about indian life in the villages and how life was in the early 1700s. I deeply encourage you to read this book.This is the first book I have read by Caroline B. Cooney and I am looking forward to reading many, many more. ;)

Summary of the book, by chapters, great book!4-9

CHAPTER FOURCONNECTICUT RIVERMARCH 2, 1704TEMPERATURE 10 DEGREES Ruth is getting mad at everybody for what they did or should have done. She gets a knife from an Indian and tries to kill herself but the Indian stops her. Mercy tells Eben to ask Indians his name cause they like it. Indians were deciding who deserved captivity, not life. Being property was an honor. Mercy and Eben learn 21 words of the Indians language by the night. Eben is sent to get firewood and he understands and is happy, cause he will be warm and they can dry their clothes. Indians found 20 moose under the snow and cooked it up. The people were so hungry that they ate it half-raw, because they didn't have the patience to cook it. Sally Burt is the only one that is let to walk with her husband because she is eight months pregnant. Ruth is getting mad because Eben and Mercy are learning the Mohawk language, and that they just left their town behind them. She also keeps talking about ransom. A word they must cherish. Mercy says Eben has to make friends so they don't kill him, cause otherwise he will be next. Mercy now has an Indian name, her name is Munnonock. Mercy is wondering why they came to Deerfield, she thinks that they might need children. Mercy is turning into and Indian because she is getting interested in the language.CHAPTER FIVELEAVING THE Connecticut RiverMARCH 8,1704TEMPERATURE 40 DEGREES Mercy is realizing that he is an Indian and she is letting her parents down. Everybody starts going in different directions. Mercy stays with Eben, Sarah, Joseph, Ruth and Eliza. Indians can't find food but they don't worry, only the prisoners worry. Mercy tells Ruth that her name, Mahakem, means "Fire eats her". Joe and Eben search for food while the girls stay by the fire. Eben and Joe go south with masters with bows and arrows because arrows were quicker to reload then guns and they are quieter. Eben shoots a rabbit with the arrow but on the way back Eben has to carry a deer's carcass on his back. Ruth wants to escape; she doesn't want to be a slave. Ruth slips over a cliff but is hanging on and her master, otter, pulls her up then she pushes him over the edge. Ruth then goes down and saves him and says that she didn't want to do it, but she doesn't want to be like you. CHAPTER SIXST LAWRENCE RIVER FRENCH CANADAAPRIL 10, 1704TEMPERATURE 44 DEGREES. They meet a priest who praises to the Indians then tells them that's they will be all right and that they will be sold to good French families. Father Meriel buys Eliza. Mercy begs to go with him and realizes the priest is a nice guy. He goes around and blesses everyone except Ruth gets mad at him and tells him not to do it again. Mercy gets to stay in a house and eats warm food and gets washed and treated stays warm. Sally Burt has a baby boy and she bit down on a cylinder piece of wood to absorb the pain. Indians bring many gifts for the baby. Baby is baptized in four different languages; English, French

Another great historical fiction

The trend in young adult literature now is historical fiction and I love it. This was an intriguing book that once started was hard to put down. The details of the attack by the Indians and the march north to Canada were very gripping. This is the type of book that students love and open up the class room to great discussions. Read this book now.

A remarkable true story set during colonial times.

Eleven-year-old Mercy Carter lives with her family in Deerfield, Massachusetts, the most remote settlement in the English colonies in 1704. Although life in Deerfield is both difficult and dangerous, with countless chores for even the youngest child and the constant threat of Indian attacks, Mercy takes comfort in her family and her faith. But even her prayers are not enough to save many settlers from brutal deaths at the hands of the Indians, and they aren't enough to save Mercy, who is among the survivors, from capture. Forced to march three hundred miles north to the Indian village in Canada through the brutal winter cold is almost more than Mercy can bear, and many do not survive the journey. Once she arrives in Canada, she finds herself a servant, and her only comfort lies in her faith, her prayers, and the faint hope that she will be ransomed and reunited with the surviving members of her family. Yet as time goes by, Mercy begins to think of herself as less of a captive, and more of a daughter of the tribe. And as this happens, Mercy wonders - if given the chance to become "English" again, would she even want to take it? Is she even still Mercy Carter, the Puritan girl from Deerfield, or an entirely new person? This was an absolutely wonderful book. The author really was able to get inside Mercy's head, to make the reader feel what she was feeling, as she struggles to love and not hate, to mourn her lost family and friends yet be happy among the people responsible for the deaths, and to remember her old life without causing herself pain. I can't say enough good things about this book, so I'll just highly reccomend that you read it.