Description A National Book Award Finalist The Newberry Medalist brings humor and heart to this story of a Civil War-era boy struggling to do right in the face of history's cruelest evils. Twelve-year-old Charlie is down on his luck: His sharecropper father just died, and Cap'n Buck--the most fearsome man in Possum Moan, South Carolina--has come to collect a debt. Fearing for his life, Charlie strikes a deal with Cap'n Buck and agrees to track down some folks accused of stealing from the cap'n and his boss. It's not too bad of a bargain for Charlie . . . until he comes face-to-face with the fugitives and discovers their true identities. Torn between his guilty conscience and his survival instinct, Charlie needs to figure out his next move--and soon. It's only a matter of time before Cap'n Buck catches on. "This is a compelling and ugly story for middle-grade readers told with genuine care. Little Charlie is a product of his Southern upbringing, yet in Curtis's skillful hands he learns the world is not as he'd thought . . . Christopher Paul Curtis does it again." --Historical Novel Society "A characteristically lively and complex addition to the historical fiction of the era from Curtis." -- Kirkus Reviews