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Boston, 1919. It's been a year of distressing changes for thirteen-year-old Joshua Harper. The influenza pandemic that's sweeping the world has claimed the life of his father; his voice has changed, so he can't sing in the Boston Boys' Choir anymore; and now money is tight, and his mother is asking him to quit school to get a job. It's not fair!

Joshua begins working as a newspaper boy, ha... More

Boston, 1919. It's been a year of distressing changes for thirteen-year-old Joshua Harper. The influenza pandemic that's sweeping the world has claimed the life of his father; his voice has changed, so he can't sing in the Boston Boys' Choir anymore; and now money is tight, and his mother is asking him to quit school to get a job. It's not fair!

Joshua begins working as a newspaper boy, hawking papers on the street. He soon finds himself in rivalry with Charlestown Charlie, a tough, streetwise Irish boy. Now Joshua is completely torn between the privileged life he once knew as one of the well-to-do Beacon Hill Boys and his new existence on the street, among tenements and street vendors.

How Joshua adjusts and comes to find his voice, his song, and his place in the world by his acts of courage during a terrifying crisis is the heart of this fast-paced, suspenseful novel. Joan Hiatt Harlow has created a memorable character in Joshua and a remarkable story based on true incidents in Boston history.