In 1535, thirteen-year-old Samuel de la Loire, who comes from a wealthy and aristocratic family in St. Malo, France, yearns for adventure, so he stows away aboard one of Jacques Cartier's ships, which are returning to the New World in search of gold, and the mythical Kingdom of Saguenay--what he finds is a struggle for survival, especially after he is left behind when the ships sail back to France.
