The Colliers' collaborative work highlights the individual strengths of each brother. James's narrative structure and dialogue combine with Christopher's historical research to create a feeling for the era and its people. James Collier does an excellent job of expanding a selected historical event into an exciting story. His characters speak in a modern dialect, a feature that makes it easier for readers to understand the book. The descriptions of everyday life in Redding Ridge are well drawn and balance the sometimes dramatic and graphic depictions of death during wartime.

The plot, with its focus on divided loyalties, compels the reader to think seriously about issues of public and private duties during wartime. The Colliers refrain from providing easy answers, assuming that young readers can think for themselves about political controversy. Though the book's ending does not provide a satisfying conclusion, the authors' addition of an epilogue...