Mad Boy

<p><b>Colorado Book Award Winner for Literary Fiction: "The colorful characters make this account of the War of 1812 a rollicking page-turner" (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>).</b><br> <br> In the early nineteenth century, young Henry Phipps is on a quest to realize his dying mother's last wish: to be buried at sea, surrounded by her family. Not an easy task considering Henry's ne'er-do-well father is in debtors' prison and his comically earnest older brother is busy fighting the redcoats on the battlefields of Maryland.<br> But Henry's stubborn determination knows no bounds. As he dodges the cannon fire of clashing armies and picks among the ruins of a burning capital, he meets looters, British defectors, renegade slaves, a pregnant maiden in distress, and scoundrels of all types. Mad Boy is at once an antic adventure and a thoroughly convincing work of historical fiction that recreates a young nation's first truly international conflict and a key moment in the history of the emancipation of African American slaves.<br> Entertaining, atmospheric, and touching, it is "a wartime coming-of-age story filled with nonstop action and genuine pathos" (<i>Kirkus Reviews</i>, starred review).<br> <br> "This brilliant musket blast of a novel--in which the lucky reader will encounter falling cows, repurposed pickle barrels, fascinating schemes and fabulous schemers--is alive with humor, heat and heart. Mad Boy is a tremendous accomplishment. Nick Arvin is the real thing."--Laird Hunt, author of <i>Neverhome</i></p>