Synopsis:At the outbreak of the French and Indian War in Pennsylvania, Indian raiders took two neighboring, twelve-year-old girls prisoner. Marie LeRoy and Barbara Leininger both witnessed the killing of their fathers and the destruction of their homes, then lived together with their captors for over three years. They learned Indian ways and moved five times, finally ending up in central Ohio. But neither fully accepted their adoption. In March 1759, along with two other young captives, they escaped, walking almost 200 miles through near-winter wilderness to Fort Pitt and freedom. The first-person voice of Marie LeRoy gives this fictional recreation of an actual experience immediacy and provides understanding of what both girls experienced. It follows the girls’ own narrative, but fills in many details of a challenging, sometimes brutal ordeal from which both girls still emerged strong and whole. It is a story of friendship, courage and resourcefulness driven by a constant need to regain family and home.
This is a true story of survival that should interest both girls or boys, but it should also appeal to teachers searching for fiction to use in history curricula. The 282 page story includes end notes and an extensive bibliography.
Published under the Hemlock Lodge Press imprint.
Kutztown, Pennsylvania
With numerous illustrations.
Printed and distributed by Blurb publications. Available from Amazon and through Ingram. Also available at the Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown, PA
ISBN: 9781388685737 (softcover) list: $12.75
ISBN: 9781388685249 (hardcover) list: $27.50
This book was a labor of love. The story of Barbara Leininger's younger sister, Regina, who was kidnapped at the same time, usually gets all the attention. LeRoy is all too often the forgotten part of the story. But I spent a long time doing the research, and Linda and I traveled across Pennsylvania and out to the middle of Ohio retracing the girls' route and visiting the places they lived. I wanted to get the girls' story as accurate and faithful to what happened as possible. Their courage still impresses me today.
