The Civil War is over, and Will Page has lost everyone. Yankees killed his father and brother, and disease claimed his mother and sisters. Alone and angry, he heads for the Shenandoah Valley to join his uncle's family. But Uncle Jed refused to fight in the war, and Will, like all the local townspeople, thinks that means he's a coward. Gradually, through the hard work and patience of his uncle's family and the kindness of a passing Union soldier, Will learns that the war was horrible on both sides, and the bravest response is to follow one's own beliefs. In a novel with no easy resolution, Will models nurturing empathy for others while remaining true to himself, all against the backdrop of a very real part of Confederate Virginia that was not primarily slaveholding.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, recently orphaned Will must start a new life and overcome his prejudices.

Courage wears many faces…

The Civil War may be over, but for twelve-year-old Will Page, the pain and bitterness haven’t ended. How could they have, when the Yankees were responsible for the deaths of everyone in his entire immediate family?

And now Will has to leave his comfortable home in the Shenandoah Valley and live with relatives he has never met, people struggling to eke out a living on their farm in the war-torn Virginia Piedmont. But the worst of it is that Will’s uncle Jed had refused to fight for the Confederacy.

At first, Will regards his uncle as a traitor—or at least a coward. But as they work side by side, Will begins to respect the man. And when he sees his uncle stand up for what he believes in, Will realizes that he must rethink his definition of honor and courage.