Tennessee was almost split in half by the Civil War. Residents of the eastern mountain region were largely pro-Union. When the state seceded in 1861, those resisting the Confederacy faced harsh retribution. Many families left the state, but Matthew and Elizabeth Burnett on their farm high in the Smoky Mountains chose to stay.
It is 1863, and Tennessee is a battleground for the clash of Union and Confederate forces. Nathaniel, the Burnett's oldest son, is a Pinkerton spy, risking his life for the Union to report on Confederate troop movements. When Nat breaks his leg in a fall, he asks his fourteen-year-old brother, Jonathan, to deliver vital information to the Pinkerton contact. Jonathan enjoys the solitude of mountain life and lacks his brother's daring spirit, but he agrees to go.
In his first confrontation with a Confederate officer, Jonathan manages to quell his jittery stomach by imitating Nat. Later, his own resourcefulness is tested in a midnight battle with bushwhackers. An unexpected detainment in a Confederate camp and his friendship with Onesimus, a young Black slave, convince Jonathan "there is no winning under either flag."
Summer Spy is the story of a boy whose unswerving determination to fulfill a promise to his brother carries him through each personal challenge until he finally realizes his own strength and courage.