A young adult story of a boy living in Salem, MA in 1774-1775. While I can't say I was blown away, I was interested in the story the author told. It presents history from the view of the Tory party, and what circumstances might cause a shift in one's political viewpoint. Written in 1967, it questions the extremism of political parties. My oh my, how things stay the same. Jean Fritz is one of my favorite young adult authors. When I was teaching my children at home, her books were always a help to any history we were studying. They provide context and good jumping off points for discussions, as well as being good to read. ( )

In pre-revolutionary Salem, 14-year-old Daniel begins to re-examine his loyalty to the King as the townspeople are further divided.

We really enjoyed this book. It held my second graders, my 5th grader and my 7th grader in rapt attention. Good sentence structure, not too simplistic. ( )