Boston, 1919. Itâs been a terrible year for thirteen-year-old Joshua Harper. The influenza pandemic thatâs sweeping the world has claimed his fatherâs life; his voice has changed, so he canât sing in the Boston Boysâ Choir anymore; and now money is tight, so he must quit school to get a job. Itâs not fair!
Joshua begins working as a newspaper boy, hawking papers on the street, but he soon finds himself competing with Charlestown Charlie, a tough, streetwise boy who does not make things easier for Joshua. It seems that fitting in is not as easy as it once was. Then disaster strikes the city of Boston. Joshua must do what he can to help, and in doing so he finds the placeâand the voiceâthat he thought heâd lost.
This remarkable novel is fast-paced, suspenseful, and based on true incidents in Boston history.