In December of 1774, "Which side are you on?" becomes the dangerous question of the day for three teenage boys whose friendships and very lives depend upon their answers. Time for talk abruptly ends when Paul Revere rides into Portsmouth, New Hampshire, warning that British troops are advancing to seize the colony's stores of gun powder—critical for defense against the King and other threats. Is Revere lying? Or is the Royal Governor who denies the report only playing for time?

DeMitchell's fictional telling for young adults of the true events surrounding the first armed attack by American colonists upon the King's soldiers in New Hampshire follows the choices and fates of three boyhood friends caught on different sides as the simmering rebellion suddenly boils over.