In May 1607, three ships sailed up the James River in Virginia. In the riverbank marshes, they made land and hung the flag ­ England¹s flag ­ establishing the first permanent English colony in Jamestown Virginia. In 1609, the first ship carrying women and children arrived. After 71 days at sea, nine-year-old Elizabeth Baker is thrilled to be on dry land. Lizzie keeps a diary for Caleb, her twin brother who stayed in England because of his weak lungs. In her buoyant entries, Lizzie tells of the abundant forests, trading with and learning from the Indians, and adventures with her new friends.

In Pat Hermes' sequel to Our Strange New Land, Elizabeth faces harsher times as she records the colony's daily struggle for survival. The My America series will be relaunched with new covers. The story of the feisty, determined Lizzie of Pat Hermes' Our Strange New Land continues in this installment with the departure of both Captain John Smith and Lizzie's dear friend, Jessie. Facing new challenges, Lizzie records in her new diary all of the challenges that face the struggling colony. As a result of starvation and disease, Lizzed watches hopelessly as many of the settlers die. She records all of this, but even more, she records the intimate lives of the children who remain there, along with that of her new baby sister.

In her third and final journal, Elizabeth and her brother, now reunited, grieve the death of their mother, while dramatic changes take place in Jamestown, under the strict leadership of Lord Delaware. Elizabeth, who is finally reunited with her twin brother Caleb, continues to grieve for the death of her mother in this third and final volume of her diary. And things don't get much easier when the cruel Lord Delaware begins to impose strict new laws on the residents of the Jamestown colony, and her father decides to remarry. But Elizabeth's brave spirit carries her through the hard times and into happier ones, as she and her friends rebuild the colony's church and discover true happiness.