Scholastic Canada Ltd | ISBN 9781443139083 Paperback
208 Pages | 5.01" x 7.73" | Ages 10 to 14

Scholastic Canada Ltd | ISBN 9781443139090 Ebook
208 Pages | Ages 10 to 14

The sequel to Brothers at War finds best friends Jacob and Eli on opposite sides of the battlefield as the War of 1812 erupts.

Jacob and Eli may be blood brothers, but they are on opposite sides in the battle of Queenston Heights during the War of 1812. While Jacob joins John Nortons Mohawk band fighting with the British-Canadian side, Eli fights with the Americans. The Canadians win the day, but the victory comes at a great cost: the death of General Brock. Eli is captured and jailed. Because he swore the oath of allegiance to the Crown before he left Canada, his return with the invaders makes him a traitor. He is charged with high treason a hanging offence. Can Jacob save his friend from the gallows?

Raves & reviews:

Praise for Brothers at War:

Nominee, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, 2014
Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre

A wonderful historical story. The reader will feel invested in the characters and enjoy the rise and fall of tension as the story progresses through an ebb and pull of loyalties and intrigue. CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Readers gain an excellent understanding of the politics and events leading up to the war . . . The issues at hand are far from black-and-white, and Cummer doesnt oversimplify or sugar-coat these problems. Canadian Childrens Book News

A Hanging Offence
CDN$ 7.59
By Don Cummer
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BOOK 2 OF THE JAKE AND ELI SERIES

Toward the end of book 1, Brothers at War, General Brock asked Jacob's father and Mr. Willcocks to go on an important mission to the Mohawk Village (present-day Brantford, Ontario.) In book 2, A Hanging Offence, Jacob becomes friends with a Haudenosaunee boy, Good Spirit, and watches the diplomacy as John Norton prepares the First Nations for war.

Jacob and Good Spirit fight side-by-side at the Battle of Queenston Heights. But on the battlefield, Jacob comes face-to-face with his blood brother, Eli who has joined the American militia.

With Eli taken prisoner and under house arrest, the brilliant young Attorney General of Upper Canada, John Beverley Robinson, decides to make an example of the boy and have him tried for treason.  Jake faces a stark choice: follow his father's wishes and let the justice system take its course, or try to break his blood brother out of jail.

All along, Jake is haunted by the sights of what he has witnessed on the battlefield.

Read Libby McKeever's review and an excerpt in the Canadian Review of Materials.

Charis Cotter's review for the National Reading Campaign