First published 2011
Homer P. Figg loses his older brother Harold when their guardian sells the boy to the Union Army as a substitute soldier. The twelve-year-old orphan refuses to accept this fate. He escapes from Pine Swamp, Maine, and heads south to track down Harold before the war can claim him. Homer's journey through Civil War America brings encounters with thieves, con artists, and spies. He uses his quick wit and faster feet to stay ahead of trouble while following clues about his brother's whereabouts. The trail leads Homer toward Pennsylvania, where Union and Confederate forces are converging near a small town called Gettysburg. As cannons roar and soldiers fall around Little Round Top, Homer searches desperately through the chaos of battle. The 20th Maine regiment makes its famous stand while Homer dodges bullets and searches faces for the brother he came so far to save. The boy who started this adventure with nothing but determination now faces the ultimate test of whether love can survive the machinery of war.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Gettysburg, Maine, Pennsylvania, Pine Swamp
Period: Civil War
240 pages · Paperback · Scholastic Paperbacks