Grayback

Bertram Tambling is the last boy on earth to be afraid of the dark... until he goes blind. Cunning spy, scout, and deadly sharpshooter, Bertram is highly prized by the Confederate Army. But when a mission goes horribly wrong, he finds himself blind--and in the wrong uniform. Now he must fight for his true identity without losing his life. Bertram "Ben" Tambling is skilled as a sharpshooter-a skill he eventually finds to be a curse. Asked to take on a mission that takes him behind enemy lines, he is wounded while in an enemy uniform. Taken in by distant relations who are unknowing of his true loyalties, Ben must learn to "follow where fate leads him." He eventually finds himself in the Monadnock Valley of New Hampshire where he finds friendship, family, and love, yet does he truly belong? Deep down his adventurous spirit and beloved South keep calling and when he is well enough to return he must decide where fate is calling him to be. Readers will be taken from the battlefields of Virginia to the cities of New England-and back again. Rich with historical detail yet fast paced. Recommended for grades 8 and up.