EDUCATION EXTRA.

Byline: The Register Guard

BOOK PICKS

Into the Firestorm: A Novel

of San Francisco, 1906

By Deborah Hopkinson

Random House Children's Books, 2006

Ages 8 to 12

A Corvallis author of many acclaimed children's books, Deborah Hopkinson has written a compelling adventure. Told in the span of a few days, this historical novel breathes new life into the famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Readers will be caught up from the first page when 11-year-old orphan Nick Dray runs away from a county poor farm in Texas to the fabled city of San Francisco. Children (and parents) will be drawn into this firsthand account by Hopkinson's likeable characters and nonstop action.

The book is based on the true story of a boy named Charles Nicholas Dray; the characters of Pat Patterson and Tommy are also drawn from historic records.

Although Nick was orphaned, the love of his family sustains him as he follows his dream, alone, from Texas into the Golden City. "Into the Firestorm" is not only a glimpse into life as it was a century ago, but into the heart of a boy who never gives up.

Nick's confidence and resilience win him a small job in a book shop shortly after his arrival. Shop owner Pat Patterson has a big, beautiful "golden dog" any boy would love, and Nick can't believe his good fortune.

Nick also befriends Tommy, a Chinese-American teen from Chinatown. They learn they have much in common: Both have suffered ostracism and prejudice, and both are working hard for better lives. But on Nick's first afternoon working alone in the book shop, a devastating earthquake strikes, followed by raging firestorms across the city. His new life turns upside down. The earthquake destroyed 28,000 structures and killed 3,000 people.

The dangers and heroics may remind readers of recent disasters as they learn why Nick Dray's story was recorded by history.

- Debra Bogart,

youth services librarian, Eugene Public Library