Captain Tempesta — Emilio Salgari

A warrior in disguise. A lover to be rescued. A city under siege.Cyprus, 1571. An island at war. The powerful Ottoman army has taken every city save one, Famagusta, a Venetian port and stronghold. Besieged by a force of 80,000 men, they city has valiantly fought back with its small garrison of warriors and mercenaries. The greatest among them is Captain Tempesta, a young noble unmatched in bravery and swordsmanship. Few, however, know the captain's secret… that she has donned armour and passed herself off as a man in order to search for her beloved who has been imprisoned by the Turks. Will she triumph? The odds are overwhelmingly against her. The Turks are preparing to storm the city and slay all those within it, and still there has been no word of her beloved's whereabouts… Selected by Julia Eccleshare as one of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up."