Walter Dean Myers, author of such powerful teen novels such as Monster and Fallen Angels, now takes a compelling look at a biracial teen’s experience during one of the most conflicted times in our nation’s history: the Civil War. It is July 1863, and troops are being pulled from the front lines at Gettysburg to fight another sort of war that has just broken out in New York City. A draft has just been instituted, which allows wealthy men to escape army service by paying a steep fee, one that the city’s immigrants can’t afford. Tremendous frustration over the situation leads to black Americans being targeted for violence. Things grow so desperate that fifteen-year-old Claire, daughter of a black father and Irish mother, can scarcely believe this is happening in the city she has always loved. Can Claire discover how to survive in her changing world?