Krensky, Stephen

Ten-year-old Ben Franklin finds working in his father's candle shop boring - he'd much rather be doing experiments.

Examines the races, tribes, wanderers, and explorers who may have found America before Columbus, including the prehistoric nomads who crossed the land bridge from Asia and possible Polynesian, Phoenician, and European visitors by sea.

When Buster rescues a cat stuck in a tree he is treated like a hero, but when he begins to enjoy his celebrity a little too much, his friends devise a plan to bring him back to his old self.