Carrying Independence - Karen A. Chase

With cries of war spreading across the colonies and pressure mounting to join the Revolution, an intrepid young Post Rider, Nathaniel Marten, is reluctant to raise a rifle for the cause until in a chance encounter with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Nathaniel is asked to secure the remaining signatures by carrying the sole copy of the Declaration to the congressmen unable to attend the formal signing. \n \n1776. The Declaration of Independence has been approved by Congress. The delegates have agreed to assemble on August second to sign a single copy that would show they stand unanimous in their desire to separate from British rule. But the struggle to bring all the congressmen to Philadelphia for the formal signing seems as insurmountable as the fight for independence against the world's greatest army...\n \nWith cries of war spreading across the colonies and pressure mounting to join the Revolution, an intrepid young Post Rider, Nathaniel Marten, is reluctant to raise a rifle for the Cause. His heart is pulled by sympathy for his mother, English-born and loyal to her homeland; concern for his father, whose artisanal gun shop is being converted into an armory for the newly formed Continental army; and fear for the peaceful Shawnee tribe he has long considered his second family.\n \nIn a chance encounter with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Nathaniel is asked to take on the role of a lifetime: secure the remaining signatures by carrying the sole copy of the Declaration to the congressmen unable to attend the formal signing. The risks? British generals and double-crossing spies are eager to capture both Nathaniel and the document so they can divide the thirteen colonies already weakened by war.\n \nThrough encounters with well-known original founding fathers and mothers, and by witnessing the effects of the Revolution on ordinary Americans, Nathaniel must learn that independence--for himself, for those he loves, and for the country--is not granted, it's chosen. By each and every one of us.\n