Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 (by Deborah Hopkinson)

But while he's gone the San Francisco earthquake strikes. As fire advances through the city, Nick tries to take care of the owner's dog, Shake, as well as a little girl from across the street and her pregnant, injured mother. Forced to evacuate, they head for Golden Gate Park, the last refuge of those who couldn't make it out of the city.

Readers of this book surely will be reminded of a similar disaster that happened a century later -- the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Though one was fire and the other flood, the stories are similar: Cities destroyed not so much by acts of nature as by the following failures of man. The differences lie in the effectiveness of the responses to the disasters.

Deborah Hopkinson's take is exciting and, at times, moving as the plucky, goodhearted orphan (is there any other kind in books?) struggles to help others in the face of overwhelming disaster. The details of the earthquake and subsequent fire are gripping, most vividly in the characters' journey across the city while pursued by flames.