The Papers We Carried

By David Hutchinson

When fourteen-year-old Clara Avery arrives at the President's House in August 1814, war feels like something that belongs to newspapers, soldiers, and distant roads. But as British troops march toward Washington, D.C., Clara's father-a careful government clerk-entrusts her with a packet of papers too important to leave behind.
With the capital burning behind her, Clara must navigate smoke-filled halls, hidden passages, crowded roads, and the terrifying uncertainty of whom to trust. Alongside a sharp-witted kitchen girl, a rigid clerk forced to rethink everything, and her wounded father, Clara discovers that courage is not the absence of fear-it is keeping hold of what matters even when your hands are shaking.
Through My Own Eyes: The Papers We Carried is a moving historical novel about the burning of Washington, the power of memory, and one girl's journey from being protected from the truth to carrying it herself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HGH9YK6K
• ISBN13: 9798194880119
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"