The historical fiction book Private Cathay's Secret by Rebecca O. Hayes, is a mind-blowing novel that you will love. In the novel, soldiers took a slave girl, Cathay, to be their cook. She traveled many places with her cousin, Jasper, who was also a slave, and the soldiers, and along the way, she learned how to cook better. When she was able to finally be free, and not a slave, she was lonely and didn't know what to do with herself. She then decided to join the army as a man. It was a hard task not being caught, but she pulled it off. In this novel, you will read of all the different places she went and what she went through on the way. Private Cathay's Secret is a fast, easy read that you will enjoy.