Author Terri A. DeMitchell has written a spectacular and thrilling story about the Spring of 1775 in New England - all aimed at middle-graders and young adults. The story focuses on life of fourteen year old Andrew Becket and his coming of age as he awaits to sit the Harvard entrance exam. As an apprentice with Dr. Ammi Cutter, Andrew is called upon to deliver medical supplies from Portsmouth, New Hampshire down to the troops in Medford, Massachusetts. These are the days following the Battle at Lexington and tensions are high. However unintentional, Andrew is drawn into the action of skirmishes right up through the Battle of Breeds Hill.

For today's young reader, it is difficult to imagine what life may have been like for a young person of their same age from 250 years ago. This story provides an excellent fictional telling of the historical record, framed in a way which draws on a young person's imagination and heart. So many questions arise, which plunge the depths of their own understanding of the prices paid for the liberties and freedoms they enjoy to this today. The research which went into this book is tremendous and deftly placed within the story around which a clever and emotional fictional account is woven. It is instructive and entertaining - pure edutainment!

I am grateful to Ms. DeMitchell and Salt Marsh Books for having provided a complimentary e-copy of this book through Goodreads. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone. ( )