In 1863, 15-year-old Tillie Pierce became an unlikely heroine when she and other women and girls were trapped in a small Pennsylvania town as the mother of all Civil War battles raged around them. Tillie's rough-hewn account of her ordeal, written many years later, comes to life in this book thanks to beautiful photography, maps, and the vivid prose of award-winning author Tanya Anderson.

Showing courage and compassion, Tillie and other Gettysburg citizens helped save the lives of countless wounded Union and Confederate soldiers as they lay in the kitchens and bedrooms of their homes. This book was a Junior Library Guild Selection and Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medalist.