"What kind of a girl steals the clothes from a dead man's back and runs off to join the army? A desperate one. That's who." At the end of the American Civil War, Charley - a young African-American slave from the deep south - is ostensibly freed. But then her adopted mother is raped and lynched at the hands of a mob and Charley is left alone. In a terrifyingly lawless land, where the colour of a person's skin can bring violent death, Charley disguises herself as a man and joins the army. Soon she's being sent to the prairies to fight a whole new war against the "savage Indians". Trapped in a world of injustice and inequality, it's only when Charley is posted to Apache territory that she begins to learn what it is to be truly free.

Tanya Landman has written numerous books for children and young people including the Sam Swann series, Apache, The Goldsmith's Daughter, Mondays Are Murder and the beautiful picture book Mary's Penny. Tanya lives in Bideford, Devon. Visit Tanya at www.tanyalandman.com.