Trouble at Fort La Pointe

Book excerpt: Nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery: In 1732, a twelve-year-old girl of Ojibwe and French heritage must clear her father of a stealing charge—or risk being separated from him forever Suzette Choudoir always looks forward to summer, when her family leaves the Ojibwe people’s winter camp and returns to the summer gathering place on La Pointe Island. This year her papa, a French fur trader, hopes to win a trappers’ competition. If he does, he can remain with his family year-round, instead of paddling away to far-off Montreal in autumn. When someone steals a bale of valuable furs, however, suspicion falls on Papa. Determined to find the real thief, Suzette gathers clues and tries to track down the missing furs. But it will take all of her courage to clear her father’s name. If she can’t, her family will be forced to leave La Pointe Island in disgrace, and Suzette—a black-haired, blue-eyed girl of mixed cultural heritage—may never find a true home. This ebook includes a historical afterword.