Twelve-year-old Daniel Prescott cheered when the Sons of Liberty dumped English tea into Boston Harbor. Then King George sent his soldiers to take over Boston and its port. Now Daniel’s home is a city under siege. When his father slips away to join the rebels, Daniel works in the family tavern and eavesdrops on Redcoat officers. He soon learns how to slip across British lines and becomes a messenger and spy, bringing vital news of the enemy to his father, and even to General Washington. To do so puts Daniel?s life in danger. But, to a Patriot, liberty is well worth any risk.

Twelve-year-old Will wants to be a drummer in the Union army, but he’s stuck far from the fighting in his sleepy hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Then the Union and Confederate armies converge on Gettysburg, and suddenly Will and his family are caught up in the battle.

Perfect for parents or teachers who want to gets students, particularly boys, into reading and history. They’re filled with action, and have the historical research to back it up, but it lightly touches on topics that are pivotal to boyhood-Being brave in the face of danger, wanting to be treated like a man, trying to earn a father’s respect.

All three novels explore these themes in different ways. With Daniel, he goes through the most straightforward journey to manhood as he works as a spy for General Washington’s espionage ring. When face with direct battle, and gore, he flees and is filled with shame over his cowardice. However, we all know courage is not always running into danger but being able to pull through when it counts. It also has a nice concurrent arc about learning who to trust, and face-heel-turns of who’s friend or who’s foe.

In Will’s story, Calkhoven deals with the nuances around the Civil War like how the average foot soldier didn’t own slaves or had opinions on slavery, but saw it as a state’s rights vs government. Meanwhile, Daniel is more concerned with the moral shame of slavery, but has to reconsider his stance when his frenemy points out that negro’s lives aren’t much better in the dirty factories and poor pay. Will also has to battle his fear when he is travels through enemy lines, his journey is more concerned about the outcome of the war and whether all this bloodshed is worth it. This is the book that best displays how war is hell (the imagery is quite vivid) and how the battlefield isn’t fun and glory but blood begetting blood.

Michael’s story is the most twisting and turning. Yes, it involves spywork, but it also deals with Nazi propoganda turning Michael’s friend against him, the arrest and murder of his neighbors, interrogations, and fleeing across the Pyranees. Like it was nonstop action, but I think it has one of the more realistic depictions of the Resistance. The members didn’t share their names or identities so Michael’s collegues were almost anonymous yet part of a bigger cause. The Resistance wasn’t always active because of the Nazi round-ups, leaving communications empty for stretches of time. So that was enlightening. But readers will also enjoy Michael’s story with his personal arc of feeling like his father’s unfavorite. Most of his actions are in hopes of being able to proudly tell his father he resisted the Nazis when his Father comes back from England, but over time learns to find the value in himself and his own opinion.