Caleb's Crossing is a richly imagined novel by the acclaimed author Geraldine Brooks. Set in 1665, it tells the story of a young man from Martha's Vineyard who becomes the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. This novel vividly brings to life a remarkable shard of history.

The narrator, Bethia Mayfield, grows up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amidst a small band of pioneers and Puritans. She is restless and curious, yearning for an education that is denied to her because of her gender. As often as she can, Bethia explores the island's glistening beaches and observes its native Wampanoag inhabitants.

At the age of twelve, Bethia encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain. They forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each of them into the alien world of the other. Bethia's minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe's shaman. One of his endeavors is the education of Caleb, who later studies Latin and Greek among the colonial elite in Cambridge.

Caleb's Crossing is an evocative and absorbing tale of love, faith, magic, and adventure. It further establishes Geraldine Brooks as one of our most acclaimed novelists.