Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are heading southwest on the back of Stella, the giant pteranodon, to find Montez, her brother, wounded during the siege of Vicksburg; now they are heading into the heart of the fighting, depending on Magdalys's ability to communicate telepathically with dinosaurs--but one of the companions is not quite what she seems, and Magdalys's talent could make her a target for both sides.

It is the summer of 1863, and as the Civil War rages between dinosaur-mounted armies down south, and a tense New York City seems on the brink of exploding into riots, Magdalys Roca and the other children at the Colored Orphan Asylum are trying to survive; but when she receives a letter telling her that her brother Montez was wounded, Magdalys knows that somehow she must reach him--and just possibly her ability to communicate telepathically with dinosaurs...

"What makes you 'you'? Chess has always been the protector of his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn acts silly so he will be adored. They've been a happy family, the three of them and their mom. But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children--who share the same first and middle names and exact birth dates--reach the Greystone family. This bizarre coincidence makes them wonder: Who exactly are these strangers? Before Chess,...