Summary
Noah Cope, a 13 year old boy, is living through the American Revolution. He has to become the man of the house after his father, a pastor who is loyal to the English Church and the king, is killed by the rebels. After he and his family leave their home of Tullbury to move to Boston to live with their uncle, Noah has to find a job to help provide for his family. He gets a job working as a spy for the British at the Green Dragon Tavern. While working at the tavern, Noah starts to question the truth and whose side he is really on.

Review
I am so glad that Avi wrote a new middle grades American Revolution book! I have been looking for a new book club book for some if my higher 5th grade readers for our American Revolution unit and this is it!

I love how clear Avi was in the early chapters with vocabulary. For children who are learning about the American Revolution and all the technical vocabulary it was a huge help! He clearly definite Tories, loyalists, red coats, Sons of Liberty, continental army, royal crown, and more. It really set the stage well for the young readers to learn, but also better understand the story.

I also really enjoyed the progression of the book. It mentioned so many real places and people. It will help students learn about some of the major events in the American Revolution and sympathize with the struggle people faced during the war, which I feel is sometimes left out of the history books. The main character Noah was very relatable. As a young boy you could really feel his struggle and trying to think for himself on what side he is on loyalist or rebel. ( )

This is an upper middle grade (or even middle school) story that has a complex take on the Revolutionary War. The book begins in 1774 in fictional Tullbury, Massachusetts, near Concord, where 13 year-old Noah Cope's family had lived for over 100 years. In 1774, tensions between loyalists (to the British) and rebels are running high, and Noah's father, the town pastor, is beaten and murdered for saying a prayer that ends with "Bless and defend, and save the king and all the royal family." In the harrowing aftermath, the family must abandon their home and flee to Boston, hoping for the safety of loyalists there, and to be taken in by an elderly uncle of Noah's mother. Noah attempts to join the British army, but is turned away for his youth. Instead, a family connection leads to Captain Brown, who pays Noah to be a spy while working at the Green Dragon Tavern, a favorite rebel gathering place. There, Noah meets Jolla, a freed slave a few years older than himself. While Noah is a passionate loyalist, Jolla is loyal only to liberty, and is rightly suspicious of and disappointed in both sides. Noah passes along information and goes on scouting and observation excursions, but grows increasingly uneasy about his loyalties. What he sees are acts of cruelty and savagery, as well as rampant misinformation on both sides. Jolla serves as something of a moral compass who prods Noah to think for himself, question everything, and know his OWN mind.

Highly recommended. Prolific Colorado children's author Avi's book is a gift, really, for its nuanced immersion in such a storied American historical event, completely avoiding the "this side was good, this side was bad" lens so often used. No heroes here, not even Jolla, one of the best children's book characters I've met recently. ( )