The time is 1775, when early thunder rumbled over Massachusetts, thunder before the coming storm of the Revolutionary War. The place is Salem—for a brief strategic period the capital of the colony. The hero is fourteen-year-old Daniel West —a boy with a decision to make.

Though he was a dedicated Tory, Daniel hated the growing violence of the Whig-Tory conflict which split Salem and its people. He despised the rowdy Liberty Boys creeping up to Tory porches with their "Liberty Gifts"—buckets of garbage.

Yet as the year went by, the events that were shaping a new nation reached relentlessly into every corner of Daniel's life. England disappointed him. His father disappointed him. Then, on a night when Salem went wild, Daniel disappointed himself.

Daniel's struggle to find his place, a stand he could take proudly, is resolved in a confrontation between the British troops and the townspeople—a true incident that nearly started the war. This is the first time in children's fiction that the events of this decisive year in Salem have been chronicled in such detail. The result is a real and engrossing novel of a boy's year of decision which has special significance for today.

From the dust jacket