Mary Pope Osborne's book, part of the relaunch of the My America series, tells the story of Ginny, a young girl who keeps a journal during the Civil War's Battle of Gettysburg. Virginia Dickens has promised to keep a journal for her older brother Jed. And Ginny finds plenty to write Pennsylvania Volunteers arrive in the town square reporting a big battle in Virginia and calling for more men to join their ranks. Rumors fly that the Rebs are headed to Gettysburg, and the Battle of Gettysburg ensues. Suddenly, Ginny's quiet town is filled with the injured. Ginny's brother Jed has joined the Union army, and they find him wounded in a makeshift hospital. With Ginny's nursing, he recovers, and Ginny is is able to witness the President's Gettysburg Address.

Part of the My America relaunch, in Ms. Osborne's sequel to My Brother's Keeper, Ginny moves to Washington, D.C. where she must face changing times, marked by the assassination of President Lincoln. In the final months of the Civil War, Virginia nad her family move to Washington, D.C. where the cold winter brings uncertainty and hardship. Virginia takes a job as a servant in a wealthy home to help her family. But, just as things start to improve as her father gets a job, and the war finally comes to an end, the tragic assassination of Ginny's beloved President Lincoln occurs. In this, her second diary chronicling the Civil War, Ginny learns that life is constantly changing. Indeed, even as Lincoln dies, her nephew is born. Throughout, Ginny faces life with hope and courage.

In her third and final diary, by Mary Pope Osborne, Ginny continues to face rapidly changing times in the aftermath of the Civil War. Virginia Dickens continues to chronicle the aftermath of the Civil War, as she and her family move their lives from Washington, D.C. to New York City. Throughout the times of difficulty and joy, Ginny is always courageous and sweet.