Stowaway to California! Adventures With Father Junipero Serra

Stowaway to California! Adventures With Father Junipero Serra by Hernandez, Natalie Nelson. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781885852298.

Natalie Hernandezs story of young Miguel Jose Serra, (Father Serra) combines the historical accuracy of a dedicated historian with the writing ability of a Mark Twain. In Stowaway to California, a young boy named Miguel stows away on the ship that carries Father Junipero Serra to the New World. He is trying to fulfill his fathers dream of accompanying the missionary to California to convert the Indians and build missions. He has many adventures and meets the Indians of the New World while following Father Serra to California. Miguel describes the ordeals of traveling by ship from Spain to Mexico and then overland to California. This historical fiction is faithful to the facts of Father Serras life and achievements, and describes the founding of the missions, the impact of mission life on the Indians and the settling of California as seen through the eyes of a young boy.