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Since the age of twelve, Charlotte "Charlie" Wheeler has been dressing as a boy and helping her father run trade routes on his raft on Lake Champlain. But a series of tragic events leaves her fatherless and essentially raising herself and running her own business before she decides to enlist in the Navy to help fight the British. Charlie gets a job as a powder monkey aboard Commodore McDonough's ship, but her real identity as a young woman remains a secret. However, her plans to keep it that way are soon at risk when her paths cross with those from her past who know her secret. What will happen when everything culminates at the Battle of Plattsburgh?
This novel of historical fiction, set around the timeline of the War of 1812 and Isle LaMotte, Vermont, follows a spunky young woman as she navigates her life on her own terms. The course of Charlie's life is more or less shaped by the war, from the first embargo in 1808 to the moment where she rescues Sergeant Burnham on the river, and of course, enlisting in the Navy. Interestingly enough, her proclivity to be dressed like a boy allows her to navigate this realm of war, normally unsafe for women, to her advantage. In the 1800s, young women had fewer rights and options than today, so Charlie's cross-dressing can be seen as both her preferred gender expression and as a means for survival.
The author's worldbuilding is strong, from its accurate historical timeline to its in-depth portrayal of American life in the early 1800s. Charlie crosses paths with people from all different socioeconomic classes on her journey. As such, the reader is immersed in not only a rafter's way of life but also that of a doctor, a shipmate, and others, enabling one to see exactly how wartime affects their livelihoods.