From the author of the National Book Award-winning novel Homeless Bird comes “an absorbing saga”* about a young heroine coming of age in the tumultuous years leading up to the Russian revolution.

Gripping, accessible historical fiction that's perfect for schools and classrooms, as well as for fans of Ruta Sepetys and Elizabeth Wein.

In the fall of 1914, safe behind palace walls, Katya Ivanova sees St. Petersburg as a magical place.

The daughter of a lady in waiting to the Empress, Katya spends all her time with the Grand Duchesses, and the royal family feels like her own. But outside the palace, a terrible war is sweeping through Europe, and Russia is beginning to crumble under the weight of a growing revolution.

Now, as Katya’s once-certain future begins to dissolve, she must seek to understand what is happening to her beloved country and, for the first time in her life, take charge of her own destiny.

With her trademark lyricism, spare prose, and strong young heroine, award-winning author Gloria Whelan has again taken a chapter from history and transformed it into  compelling historical fiction.

*Kirkus