"Through the eyes of a young boy, McQueen crafts a devastating and unforgettable portrait of the Defense of Van - a story of resilience against impossible odds." -Eric Z. Weintraub, author of South of Sepharad"Written with short and compelling chapters, this novel plunges the reader with authenticity into this little-known act of defiance ..." -Marsha Skrypuch, author of Making Bombs for Hitler and the Kidnapped from Ukraine trilogyThe government wants them dead.Fourteen-year-old Suren Simonian, an Armenian, lives as most boys his age do in the city of Van, eastern Anatolia. He goes to school, gawks at boys' fistfights, and does his best to avoid the Turkish gendarmes. Most days he spends with his Turkish best friend, Hamza. But in spring 1915, rumors spread through Van of Turkish massacres of Armenian villages. Now Turkish troops have massed outside Van with one goal-to exterminate the city's Armenians. As Suren struggles to understand what it means to be a man, he knows one thing for sure: When everything you've known and loved is at stake, the only answer is to fight back. You can never hide from the devil.Based on a true story of resistance during the Armenian Genocide, this stirring coming-of-age novel is a parable of courage, friendship, and impossible choices in the midst of unimaginable horror.