In 1665, a young man from Martha"s Vineyard became the first Native American graduate of Harvard College. Geraldine Brooks takes the few facts that survive of his extraordinary life and works this little-known shard of history into a luminous tale of passion and belief, magic and adventure. The voice of "Caleb"s Crossing" belongs to Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny island settlement of Great Harbor, where her father is minister. While he feels called to convert the Wampanoag to his own English Puritanism, Bethia is possessed of a restless spirit and a curious mind, slipping the bounds of her rigid society to explore the island"s glistening beaches and observe its native inhabitants. At twelve, she meets Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret bond that draws each into the alien world of the other. Caleb becomes a prize in a high-stakes contest between old ways and new, eventually taking his place at Harvard alongside the...