From the award-winning author of Macy McMillan and the Rainbow
Goddess, a timely middle-grade story about the devastation of wildfires
and the resilience of the human spirit
He's a rescue, a mutt. Maybe there's a little golden retriever in him,
although he's not exactly pretty. He's had a run-in with coyotes and
he's missing an eye. But Mike is eleven-year-old Cara Donovan's dog, and
they love each other absolutely. Usually her pet follows Cara
everywhere, but on the day the family first smells smoke in the air,
Mike becomes anxious. Pine Grove is in the path of a wildfire, and the
family is ordered to evacuate. In the ensuing chaos, Mike runs off. And
then the unthinkable happens; there is no time to search for Mike. They
are forced to leave him behind.
Shocked and devastated, Cara watches helplessly as the family drives
through a nightmare, with burning debris falling from the sky and wild
animals fleeing for their lives. Once in the city far from the burn
zone, the Donovans are housed with a volunteer host family. Jewel, the
hosts' daughter, is nice, but Cara can only think about what she may
have lost. What will happen if nothing is left? But as she reflects on
what "home" means to her, Cara knows only one thing. She is not going to
lose Mike. She will do what it takes to find him, even if it means going
back to Pine Grove on her own.
With her signature style combining simplicity and lyricism, the author
of Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles and Macy McMillan and the
Rainbow Goddess tells an uplifting story of love and loss. And she
shows how one girl's stressful journey eventually leads her to an
unexpected place, and a new definition of home.
