It is the mid-eighteenth century, and young British subject Anson Granville Staplyton has travelled to Ireland, where his regiment has been sent to keep the king's peace. Anson has waited all his life for the day he would follow his father to serve His Majesty in the Staffordshire Fencibles. But the young drummer's notions of glory are shaken when he witnesses the violent injustices thrust upon the Irish people. Anson is torn even further when he meets an Irish hedge master who secretly teaches children the lilting language and history of their won country-lessons that it is Anson's duty to silence. Torn between family honour and his ever-changing sense of justice, Anson struggles to choose his own way in beautiful yet turbulent Ireland. AUTHOR Gary D. Schmidt is the author of the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. He is a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Paperback available 9780547237619 AGES 8-12 GRADES 3-7 *
