Plot Summary: Zander and his friends, Kambui, LaShonda & Bobbi, attend DaVinci Academy, a gifted school in Harlem. The have created their own school newspaper as a way of speaking out and expressing themselves about subjects they feel are important. They call it The Cruiser. Their placement at the school is threatened, however, when the vice principal recognizes that they are smart but are underachievers. Mr. Culpepper tells them that if they don't show improvement, they are going to be kicked out of the school. He proposes a way for them to redeem themselves. In the midst of a project about the Civil War, he wants the cruisers to act as peacemakers to try to prevent the Union and Confederate armies from going to war. They are in charge of trying to prevent the war from happening and getting the two sides to listen to each other.
When the Confederacy starts to spout pro-slavery ideals to the student population, the situation becomes tense and angry. Although the Cruisers have been designated as peacemakers, they are finding it difficult to keep the situation from getting physical, since they themselves think about fighting the Confederates because of their support of slavery. It is during this time that Zander's cooler head prevails, and he convinces his group that there are better ways to handle this-through their newspaper, and by arranging a quiet protest. Good story about handling conflicts while learning about a crucial time in American history. This is said to be Book 1 of the series.
Subjects/Themes: Civil War, peacemaking, slavery, Freedom of Speech, newspapers
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reviews: Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, & *Starred Review* in Booklist
Age Group: Grades 5-8
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