The Girl who Marched North

Sixteen-year-old Sophia Leblanc has grown up surrounded by the quiet, persistent cruelty of slavery on her family’s Louisiana plantation. Though expected to embody Southern gentility, Sophia’s heart recoils at every clink of chains and every whispered lullaby meant to soothe suffering the world refuses to see. When the Civil War fractures the country—and her family doubles down on their loyalty to the Confederacy—Sophia makes a choice that will change the course of her life. Cutting her hair, binding her chest, and donning her dead brother’s clothes, she becomes Samuel Blake, a “young man” determined to fight for the Union and the freedom she believes all people deserve. Her path leads to Camp Parapet, the sprawling Union fortification outside New Orleans. There, among fresh recruits, hardened sergeants, and formerly enslaved families seeking refuge, Sophia undergoes the unforgiving transformation from runaway girl to soldier. She endures brutal drills, sickness, rain-soaked tents, and the constant fear of discovery. But she also finds small anchors of hope—friendship, purpose, and the memory of a woman named Dinah whose quiet wisdom once showed her what true courage looks like. As Sophia marches upriver toward the embattled city of Baton Rouge, she carries with her the weight of her disguise, the ache of her past, and a promise she made long ago: to open her eyes, and to help where she can—one mouth at a time. When the smoke of battle rises and loyalties are tested by blood and fire, Sophia must find her place in a war where identity can save—or end—her life. She will discover that freedom is not only a cause worth fighting for, but a truth worth becoming. A story of courage, transformation, found family, and the brutal honesty of war, Sky on the Wind reimagines Civil War history through the eyes of a girl who refuses to accept the world she was born into—and dares to fight for the one she believes should exist.