THE STRAITS OF DETROIT

In 1680, 12-year-old Jean St. Aubin, from the French town of St. Aubin de Blaye, is eager to join the army upon hearing the stories of young visiting recruiter Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac. Cadillac signs off on St. Aubin’s enlistment papers but says the boy must wait a few years. Two years later, St. Aubin meets up with Cadillac again, this time in the company of a General Frontenac. By 1683, Jean is finally a soldier and is ordered to go to Nouvelle France, which will come to be called Canada. St. Aubin and his new soldier buddies endure a treacherous sea voyage, then, upon arrival, engage in many bloody skirmishes with internally warring Indigenous tribes, some supported by English forces. Many parties, including local clergy, seek to profit from trading routes. St. Aubin, Cadillac, and Gen. Frontenac converge again when Louis XIV taps the general to gain greater dominance in the region. Cadillac is granted a central role in setting up a strategic port in Detroit, with St. Aubin tasked with the dangerous mission of bringing Cadillac’s wife and others to this new outpost. Adventure abounds in this fast-paced, fascinating book by Detroit native Bird, which dramatizes the derring-do of historical figures St. Aubin, Cadillac, Frontenac, and others. St. Aubin in particular gets through many suspenseful ordeals, including stepping up as a ship navigator following mass casualties, fending off many wily tribal warrior attacks, and overseeing a fleet of canoes through rapids and over waterfalls. The author, who plans a follow-up book, also showcases the bonds formed by these intrepid soldiers, with wisecracks muttered during tense moments (“Kick him where his brains are if he starts to fall asleep”) and, by novel’s end, a vision of Detroit as a nexus of multicultural harmony.