Laurie Halse Anderson

In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elspeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It's the Siege of Boston, the Patriots' massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elspeth's father-her only living relative-has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage. Just when things couldn't feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across...