Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter

Ten-year-old Sylvia Fulton has made Charleston her home, trading Boston winters for Southern warmth and a circle of dear friends. But as 1861 arrives, the city she loves begins to change. Political tensions simmer. Her father is called to Fort Sumter. Through her growing understanding of Estrella, the enslaved woman who serves her family, Sylvia begins to glimpse the true cost of the institution she never questioned. Her beloved teacher reveals a cruel nature beneath his handsome face. And when dangerous responsibilities fall to her small shoulders, carrying messages that could mean imprisonment or worse, Sylvia discovers what it means to be truly afraid. Alice Turner Curtis crafts a remarkable window into the Civil War's opening days, seen through a child's unclouded eyes. The historical details feel vivid and true: Charleston on the brink, the young nation tearing itself apart, the complex relationships between those who stayed and those who fled. Yet what elevates the book is its quiet insistence that even the youngest observer can perceive the moral complexities adults prefer to ignore. The prose carries the gentle cadence of its era, making it a compelling choice for young readers seeking to understand how children experienced America's greatest crisis.