Dear Reader, I am afraid for us. So begins Sophie's journal on Christmas Eve, 1861. And no wonder. She lives in Comfort, Texas, during the Civil War, and her father makes no secret of being a Unionist in a state that has left the Union. Terrible things are happening to German Texans like Sophie's family because they are on the wrong side. Since her father refuses to be silent, Sophie must find a way to save her family.

Janice Shefelman says she became Sophie to write this journal. In her own life, Janice is an author with a strong interest in making the past come alive through historical fiction. Her books have won many awards, including the New York Public Library Best Book for Teens, the Children's Book Council Notable Book, Reading Rainbow Book, and the International Reading Association Children's Choices.The love of books began when her father, a German professor at S.M.U. in Dallas, read to her from an early age, which led to careers as teacher, librarian, and writer. Books also gave her the desire to see the world. She spent one summer bicycling around Europe and another traveling in North Africa and the Middle East. When she married Tom, an architect, they set out on a yearlong trip around the world, traveling by freighter and living for a time in a Buddhist temple. Her writing career began to blossom when her first book, A Paradise Called Texas, appeared on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List. Janice raised two sons with Tom and lives in Austin where she now devotes full time to writing.