It is 1812. For four years, Daniel Brownell has been crossing the Detroit River from Canada every day to attend school in America. But as General Hull prepares to invade Canada at Sandwich, where the Brownell family has a store, eleven-year-old Daniel must choose between following his American father-who is determined to join General Hull-or remaining with his unstable Canadian mother. After he decides his mother needs him more, Daniel retreats with her to Amherstburg, where a wealthy man rumored to be friends with the Shawnee agrees to take them in. Seventy-two-year-old Matthew Elliott has just been named lieutenant commander and chief of Indian affairs in the British Army, and he is tasked with keeping Tecumseh and his warriors in line. As Elliott welcomes Daniel and his mother into his home, Daniel does his best to accept his new life. But when Elliot asks Daniel to deliver a letter to General Hull with the hope of deceiving him, the boy puts his own life in jeopardy in an attempt to save his father's. Although Elliott has participated in many savage battles, the day Daniel loses his innocence grieves him mightily as he realizes that no one-not even a child-can escape the chaos created by war. In this historical tale, two intersecting families are caught up in the War of 1812 as America invades Canada and a boy, an Indian agent, and a great Shawnee chief struggle to survive.