Hannalee and her family move to Atlanta after the Civil War, hoping to find work. Her brother, Davey, lost his arm fighting as a soldier in the Confederate Army, and there isn't much work available that a one-armed man can do. Hannalee and her mother both get jobs to help the family, but Atlanta is overrun with Yankee soldiers and all of Georgia is under martial law. Hannalee worries that the Yankees will be rude and violent, but she discovers that many of them are kind and friendly people.

This was an interesting look at a very weird time in history for Georgia. I liked that the book includes many true historic elements, giving a clear look into history through the lens of these characters.

Hannalee is a complex character. She is torn between being loyal to the Confederacy and hating the Yankees or befriending some really lovely people who just want to help. Eventually, she works through her feelings about the war and learns to move forward with her new friends no matter their race or their politics or their status in life. She learns that there are good and bad people on both sides of the war, and not every issue is as black and white as she used to believe.

I liked the writing pretty well, but it was nothing special. The characters are interesting, but, other than Hannalee, not very memorable. The plot moves along, but I found myself skipping over some of the descriptive paragraphs.