It's a warm October day in Augusta, Georgia and the Civil War has been raging for two years. Tommy McKnight and his sister, Annie, watch out their window as a wagon passes by loaded with wounded Confederate soldiers. As they turn up their noses at the stench, Tommy sees a book fall from the wagon and sends his dog, Samson, to fetch it. Will the book hold secret war plans that could make Tommy a hero? Instead of revealing plans, the book leads Tommy to its rightful owner, a soldier named Red. Now Tommy is faced with a difficult decision. Woven into the Southern setting are the brutalities of slavery, the harshness of war and the challenge to Tommy of deciding right from wrong. Turns out Red is not a Confederate soldier after all. 128 pages Ages 9-11 978-0805088250