The Sitka Adventure: Voyage to New Helvetia is based on historical fact but is first and foremost a children's fantasy and adventure story. This rousing tale of whimsy and what-ifs is told by a ten-year-old Miwok Indian boy named Elsu, his father Enyeto, and mother Litonya. It unfolds through the memories of Elsu's grandfather, Liwanu, who is the principal narrator. Over the course of several days, Elsu and his family sit fascinated as Grandpa Liwanu recounts his experiences as a young man on a long-ago trip to Yerba Buena Island in the San Francisco Bay. To reveal the events he witnessed, Grandpa Liwanu draws on Miwok traditions of storytelling, respect for Elders, and their special relationship with animals (whom they regard as brothers and sisters). After hearing Grandpa Liwanu's amazing story, Elsu and his mother and father know that they will never be the same. The Sitka Adventure: Voyage to New Helvetia is meant to encourage young readers to imagine a world in which animals can talk and reason, act compassionately, and work together even when others might appear different from or hostile to them. The intrepid animals in this story are challenged by all of this. By the time they are ready to steam back home to Yerba Buena Island, they have learned many life-changing lessons-the most important one being that all creatures, no matter how big or small, can be afraid, yet no matter how big or small, they also can be kind and brave-even in difficult and dangerous situations.
