Shoemaker's daughter Sally enjoys glimpses into the privileged life of her friend Kitty, daughter of a wealthy Boston Tory merchant. What young teen wouldn't be awestruck at the glorious mansion and pretty clothes? Her friend's glamour can sometimes lift the dullness of Sally's homespun routines and heavy domestic responsibilities. As political passions rattle the city in the months leading up to the Boston Tea Party, both girls' situations emerge in sharp contrast: British tax policy could ruin Sally's father's business, while the Patriots threaten Kitty's family's business interests. The friendship of the young teens has charm and authenticity, even as their bond becomes riskier given the political divisiveness, and Sally's alliance with Kitty's brother James in a daring rescue ratchets up the suspense. While in the end, politics may trump friendship, Gormley renders an appealing tale of families thrown into the march of history, and a young girl's journey toward a confident sense of herself and family pride through it all.

Sally is powerfully drawn to her wealthy, Tory best friend, Kitty, but the rapidly evolving situation in colonial Boston has put their families on opposite sides of the emerging struggle. Sally's father is a shoemaker; his standard of living contrasts sharply with that of their merchant neighbors, the Lawtons. When Sally visits there, she can let her imagination run, inventing a new life for herself that doesn't include a harsh stepmother and endless chores. But sometimes Sally doesn't understand that she unwittingly carries secrets that are too easily revealed. After her cousin is caught during a Sons of Liberty assault on Lawton's warehouse and imprisoned in the British fort in the harbor, she and Kitty's brother launch an improbable, but nonetheless suspenseful, late-night rescue attempt. Portraying the months leading up to the Boston Tea Party, this effort provides an enlightening glimpse of the conflicts that surrounded average people in an extraordinary time. The tale is related from Sally's third-person point of view, and while her character is adequately developed--although never plumbed to its fullest depth--others receive insufficient attention to be well-rounded. At times, the historical exposition feels heavy-handed, designed more to instruct than to advance the plot. In sum, the story conveys a flavor of an interesting period, but it never quite achieves the taste of grit on the tongue that the best Revolutionary War–era fiction offers. (Historical fiction. 10-13)

Gr 4-6 In 1773 Boston, Sally Gifford, daughter of a shoemaker, and Kitty Lawton, daughter of a wealthy merchant, are best friends thrust into the political battle raging around them. The girls exchange tokens of their secret sisterhood, but their fathers are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and Sally must decide where her loyalties lie. She has been invited to leave Massachusetts with Kitty and her family and live a life of English luxury, but should she stay with her family as a true daughter of America? Set against the forging of the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution, this engaging novel tells a tale of friendship and of fighting for one's beliefs. It will appeal to kids who like historical fiction, and it is a good choice for classroom discussions of the war. Terry Ann Lawler, Burton Barr Library, Phoenix, AZ