It's time to choose: friends, family or loyalty to the cause

When Emer Davey saves her neighbour Jack Madigan from drowning, it seems that they'll be friends forever. But eight months later, they find themselves on opposite sides in a life-or-death struggle, as Dublin is torn apart by the Easter Rising.

Emer's father is an officer in the Irish Volunteers who believes that armed rebellion is the only way to gain independence from Britain. His daughter agrees and is determined to help the rebels in any way she can.

Jack's dad is a sergeant in the Dublin Metropolitan Police. They both respect the law and think that Home Rule can be achieved through peaceful politics and by supporting the British Army in World War One.

The two young friends find their loyalties challenged as the terrifying reality of war sets in - and the Rising hits closer to home than either could have imagined.

Brian Gallagher is the author of four other books for young people, Across the Divide, Taking Sides, Secrets and Shadows and Stormclouds, as well as four adult novels and numerous plays and short stories.