Turtle in the Hot Plum Moon

Michael Gentle Deer is a shy but stubborn fourteen year old, raised by the great Shawnee Tecumseh after the untimely death of Michael's parents. Michael is afraid to be left alone. He has heard that a death spirit, leads dead bodies into heaven from the Island called Turtle, however although frightened he believes he will find Tecumseh there. He strikes out for the island to find his friend. As Michael searches for the Indian burial ground to find his lost Shawnee family, a mean-spirited British sergeant captures him and conscripts him into the Army. Not cut out for army life, he would rather draw pictures than fight. Ridiculed and made to serve menial tasks, Michael finally wins the respect of the soldiers by his care of a sick child in the barracks. After fighting in the last battle of the War of 1812 on Mackinac Turtle Island, with the help of an Indian girl and a hunch-back Sioux, Michael finds his family and his home.