How far would you go to follow your dreams? Fourteen-year-old Hattie Howell would do anything to follow hers. She's smart, ambitious, and a tad rebellious. Artistically inclined, she speaks her mind. Hattie would fit right in 2023. The problem is, it's 1878.
Hattie's obsessed with her father's death-a father she never knew. He was a sign painter and artist. More than anything, she wants to be an artist like him. Along with his two brothers, he volunteered to fight in the Union Army at the outset of the Civil War. Five months later, Hattie was born. He never came home. All anyone knows is he was killed on July 1, 1863, at The Battle of Gettysburg. Hattie wants answers. She needs answers. But from where?
Hattie's War is the story of a young girl's quest to find herself and her place in the world in an era when women had few options. Plagued by debilitating depression, a "curse" that runs in her family, she fears being sent to an insane asylum. Against all odds, she bucks convention, guided and supported by a most unlikely cast of characters. Her courage and determination finally pay off. Yet, in the end, she makes a surprising decision.
Set against the backdrop of the post-Civil War, Hattie's War draws on true first-hand accounts of those who fought in the War. Adding a further twist to the story, Hattie, in real life, is the author's great-great-grandmother.