A TOP 100 Indie Book of 2019! and "Allows us to temporarily live and breathe 1776 so deeply that we feel we have been the ones carrying independence for us all. and " - Kathleen Grissom, author of THE KITCHEN HOUSE With cries of war spreading across the colonies and pressure mounting to join the Revolution, an intrepid young Post Rider, Nathaniel Marten, is reluctant to raise a rifle for the Cause. His heart is pulled by sympathy for his mother, English-born and loyal to her homeland; concern for his father, whose artisanal gun shop is being converted into an armory for the newly formed Continental army; and fear for the peaceful Shawnee tribe he has long considered his second family.In a chance encounter with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Nathaniel is asked to take on the role of a lifetime: secure the remaining signatures by carrying the sole copy of the Declaration to the congressmen unable to attend the formal signing.Through meetings with well-known original founding fathers and mothers, and by witnessing the effects of the Revolution on ordinary Americans, Nathaniel must learn that independence - for himself, for those he loves, and for the country - is not granted, it's chosen. By each and every one of us.