Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906

by Deborah Hopkinson

“I believe I can just see you on the streets of that bright city.”

Gran’s gone now, but her words live on with Nicholas Dray, almost twelve, as he makes his way from the hot cotton fields to that Queen of San Francisco. Nick’s on his own for the first time, with nowhere to turn. Then he meets jaunty, talkative Pat Patterson, owner of the most beautiful store–and the friendliest golden dog–in all the city. And for the first time in months, Nick feels safe. Safe in San Francisco.

But the year is 1906, the month is April, and early one morning the walls begin to shake. The floor begins to buckle. And the earth opens up. A devastating earthquake and then raging firestorms ravage the city, and Nick is right in the middle of it all. But for a young boy who’s got few ties and nothing to lose, what’s the right escape to safety or stay–at deadly risk–to help others?

From acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson comes a suspenseful and carefully researched novel of the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire and of one boy’s heroic fight to survive it.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Juvenile, Survival

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 2006

About the author

I write nonfiction and historical fiction, picture books, and Golden Books. I speak at school, libraries, and conferences. I also love to garden and offer manuscript critiques. (Deborahhopkinson@yahoo.com)

NEW books in 2024 include DETERMINED DREAMER: THE STORY OF MARIE CURIE, illus by Jen Hill, ON A SUMMER NIGHT, illus by Kenard Pak, TRIM HELPS OUT and TRIM SAILS the STORM, illus by Kristy Caldwell, EVIDENCE! illustrated by Nik Henderson, and a nonfiction work called THEY SAVED THE STALLIONS. I'm delighted to say that Trim Helps Out, Trim Sails the Storm, On a Summer Night and Evidence! are all Junior Library Guild selections.

I live and work in Oregon and travel all over to speak to young readers and writers.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that will interest middle to upper elementary students in finding out more about 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco. I may try to read it out loud next year to my class at school; there is enough action to keep them interested and wanting more, I believe, even though it would be too hard for most of them to read on their own. Homelessness, caring for others, coming together in the midst of tragedy, and building new relationships all come in to play in this novel. Even as an adult it gave me a desire to know more about these important events in San Francisco's history.

[Kim Bahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned about an historical event I didn't know happened! Enjoyed the connections to Shakespeare - Shake, the dog.

[Faintly Macabre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good solid little book - that gives an "almost" eye-witness account of the tragic fire in San Francisco after the turn of the century. The book follows the main character Nicholas Dray as he goes from the abandoned son of a sharecropper - to a runaway orphan on the streets of San Francisco.

It is intriguing enough to keep the reader interested in the plight of Nicholas and the few friends he makes along the way. It does not get bogged down in a heavy plot retrospective; which for most young readers is a plus. The author's note at the end is very entertaining and valuable as a teacher's guide.

[Carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

another contender for favoreads–historical fiction, boy main character, action! this one was actually pretty good. the cover is sort of a sleeper, but the book was interesting enough to make me want to do a little more research into the event (although i didn’t actually go so far as to do the research–just thought about it) and has satisfyingly good “here’s the part of the story that’s true” notes at the end. i love that she actually based the story on a newspaper clipping about a boy (with the same name as her main character) who survived the fire. definitely a contender.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vivid description of the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 forms the center of this tale of an orphan boy trying to find a home for himself. I read it all in one sitting-- couldn't put it down. Combine it with Laurence Yep's Dragonwings and The Earth Dragon Awakes, Kristiana Gregory's Earthquake at Dawn, and Simon Winchester's children's version of A Crack in the Edge of the World.

[Caitlin Kosovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent book from Deborah Hopkinson! The writing is strong and holds your interest from the beginning to the end. It is good for kids to see young characters stepping up and showing incredible bravery in trying times.

[Cheryl Meibos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched historical fiction--I didn't know about how the firefighters used dynamite when
they ran out of water.

[Jennybeast · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fast paced, it's hard to put down. Nick is a former sharecropper and orphan who runs away to San Francisco. He manages to find a brief employment, taking care of a golden retriever when the earthquake and subsequent firestorm hit. Notable for the friendships that he builds in a very short time (Tommy, a grocery store boy in Chinatown, Annie, a little girl who's mom runs a boarding house and Mr. Pat, who owns a stationer's store and used to be on the stage), and based on a true story. There were moments that really upset me (Annie is a very large personality and doesn't hesitate to be a complete jerk in order to get her way), and Nick carries too much of the world on his shoulders, but on the whole, it's great historical fiction.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book intending to read about half, return to my other book and then finish up this book. It turned out that I could not put the book down. I reached the halfway point and told myself, just ten more pages, then ten more. Finally, I gave in and read the remainder of the book. Hopkinson told a brilliant story based on two different real-life eye witness accounts and wove it into a compelling narrative. She gave just enough backstory, woven in at just the right time, to fully flesh out Nick's character and the character of all the others.

I highly recommend this book.

[Andee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the Earthquake and Great Fire of SF in 1906 through orphaned Nick, a transient looking for a job at age 12.

A good read for 2nd/3rd grade, I did think the story a tad farfetched. I did not like the character, Annie. She was way too bratty for Nick to care about, or at least for ME to care about. I will recommend this to fans of the "I Survived" stories but I'd steer my older kids to different reads on historical fiction.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This follows the story of one boy right before the earthquake and his heroic acts during the earthquake to save a dog and his neighbors. This book was probably OK for middle schoolers but I wish I had learned a bit more about the earthquake as this focused more on the rescue.

Probably great for middle schoolers but not as compelling for my ESL book club.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction.
Good for OBOB 3-5.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good.

4/5

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906
Deborah Hopikinson
208 pages
September 12th, 2006. Knopf books for young readers

Based on a true story, Into the Firestorm explores a runaways adventure to San Francisco. From his grandmother dead , to the brutal workings of labor in the cotton fields the main character, Nicholas Dray, runs away from the madness of his troubled past to San Francisco. His dream is to find work, but as the story goes, nothing worth happening comes easily.

Nicholas is looked down poorly by many. The story starts off with him being chased by the cops for being accused of stealing from something he didn't. His face is dirty and he was rather unhygenical. He was a runaway after all. What keeps him going are the wonderful streets of San Francisco. Everything about it amazes him, and at several moments in the book Nicholas takes moments to just breathe everything in.

His opporunity comes when he approaches a closed storefront. The store sells ink quills of all kinds. Nicholas has early memories of writing in the fields (his Gran taught him to write, I believe), and this felt like his major opportunity to shine. When the owner Pat Patterson comes back, along with his golden retriever Shake (short for Shakespeare) Nicholas is looked upon poorly. It takes a while to prove himself, but evenutally Nicholas is given a big responsibility. Pat had a buisness trip to attend to, and needed someone to look after the store, and Shake (who later appears to have a bigger role in the story than one might think). Nicholas glady embraced looking after the store as a huge opporunity to prove himself to everyone, including himself.

All goes awry however, when a sudden shake knocks over several quills. It is later revealed to be the historical California firestorm/earthquakes of 1906. With the help of a little girl (who also had a greater role in the story than one might think), is there even hope for Nicholas' survival? Find out in this great novel!

I really enjoyed this book. It was sort of long, but the author wrote in a very captivating way that made me want to read more. If anyone's in search of a book I highly reccomend it. Not only does it give a mini-history lesson (your teachers may be impressed), but it's written for people around our age. So read it today, you got nothing to lose!

[Elaine volpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicholas Dray grew up on a cotton field in the South. Picking cotton was all he knew. His mother died at his birth and his dad left when he was ten. Only him and his “gran,” he was forced to pick cotton for a share of the crop. They were poor, dirt poor and Nick often dreamed of leaving and going to California. He and his “gran”…that was his plan. But his gran dies one day while he is out in the fields and he is sent to an orphanage. Nick wants no part of that and decides to run away. He makes it to his dream city, San Francisco, but life doesn’t come all that easy. He is constantly on the run because if the police find him and he will be sent back to the orphanage. And he has no money, no food, no place to live. Finally, he meets a man who agrees to give him a job. He befriends the young boy, gives him not only the job, but a place to stay and his first hot meal in a long time. Just as his hopes begin to rise, though, just as soon as things begin to look up, disaster strikes. The San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 was one of the worse natural disasters in American history. And Nick was in the middle of it. His new friend was away on business and he was left alone with his dog, Shakespeare, taking care of him and holding down the fort. . Everyone tells him to leave, to escape the fire while he still can, but Nick is not so sure he should. Faced with an incredibly hard decision, faced with an incredibly scary crisis, faced with a responsibility no 11-year-old should have to bear, Nick heroically fights and survives in this 1906 disaster. Read more in Deborah Hopkinson’s carefully researched novel Into the Firestorm.

[Mallory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this novel with my students and had the same feelings as them throughout our reading of this book. With the title, "Into the Firestorm," my students and I were expecting much more action and more events happening during the "firestorm." Most of the action happened during the last fourth of the book. The characters were bland, with not much depth to any of them. Although we do get to read about Nick's background, I find it hard to understand his motives after the earthquake. This novel paints an image of the perspective of someone who experienced the earthquake, but these images could have been more detailed. Was Nick all alone or were there hundreds of people running around trying to find safety? Was there chaos in the streets? How were they able to find their way if the streets were filled with black clouds of smoke? I had questions such as these as I read.

[Jennifer M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! It is about a boy whose grandpa dies and he escapes from the orphanage and heads to San Fransisco. While in San Francsisco, there is an earthquake and he I suppose to keep his managers shop and dog safe. He loses the dog and goes into the firestorm to try and save it. I don't want to give the ending away.
I liked this book part of beacause it was historical fiction and partly for all of the suspence. I was a lot of suspence. You don't know if he will save the dog, or if he will save Annie's mother (Annie is a young girl whose mother is pregnet.) I tells a lot of the 1906 earthquake.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of things can describe a book, boring, mediocre, and amazing and this one falls into the range of a fairly good book. A strong character with a good storyline about a historical thing that has happened. Starting off with poor Nicholas Dray and then him taking on such an important role and having such an amazing storyline was fantastic! Though the thing is that it's very normal nowadays to have this poor unexpected hero to rise up and take a stand. Taking a lot of time and soaking up all of the words will be a thing that people will love to do in this fantastic Novel of the San Fransisco earthquake of 1906.

[Brandon Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear Project

Brandon Taylor


PLOT

Annie and her boyfriends town are over going a Apocalypse. Annie's boyfriend is looking for dog named Beethoven. Annie’s mom gets trapped under wood and rabble. They go to get away from the town that is practically on fire. And he gave Annie his lucky penny.


SETTING

This is a town that is over going a Apocalypse like flames. Every thing is bursting into flames .
Gas lines breaking apart. Houses are falling everywhere all over the town.

[Meghan M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because it was about history. The characters are named after survivors that were in the earthquake and fire. It was devestating to read about. When I first started reading this book I walked into geography and heard a friend talking about an earthquake. I asked what happend and they told me there was and earthquake in the poorest country and that it was a 7.5 or something and had over 28 aftershocks.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

OBOB 2014. This book took a long time to capture my attention. Perhaps because it switched back and forth from present story to past memories, I was bored with it for the first third until the action started. From the earthquake on, the story moved quickly and kept me intrigued. I was very interested to know that the main characters were based on real people reported in stories of the earthquake.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical novels might be my very most favorite. This novel tells the story of a young boy living in San Francisco during the great fire. It's full of adventure. He gets to save a dog and girl and a pregnant woman. What could be more heroic? The only thing I found slightly annoying was the way the author refereed to certain streets in San Francisco as if they meant something to me who has only ever visited once. I imagine such details are delightful to city natives.

[Kelly Sandberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great historical fiction! My daughter and I read this novel together and were entranced by it. She couldn't wait to find out what happened next, and I was impressed by the exceptional writing. We recommend this book to advanced readers starting at 9 years old and anyone interested in historical fiction.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pulled this off the shelf to read it since it has been on my to-read shelf for over a year and a half. When I read the back cover blurb, I realized that I have already read it sometime during the previous school year. Good middle school book, appears to be a well-researched fictional account of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on the actual earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1906, this action-packed book is a wonderful example of historical fiction. An easy recommendation for historical fiction reading assignments.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this because my 12 year old son asked me to after he had. It was a well written story told from the perspective of a fictional pre-teen present during the quake and ensuing fires. Highly recommend to boys looking for good historical reading.

[Rshelite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good book about a boy in the SanFrancisco earthquake. He is dog sitting for a man who owns a paper store so he has to take care of some neighbor friends and the dog.(I read this book and did not listen to it on my MP3 player)

[Jacob H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was not a bad story but to me it was just alittle boring. the main idea of the book (figured by the title) was short. it was so long befor we got to the part about the earthquake and fire in the city. and the book just semed to feel short. avery part was just so short.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free via the Goodreads First Reads program.

This book was intriguing. It captured my attention from the beginning. It's a great tale of dealing with adversity, no matter how old you are.

I'd highly recommend it, especially for any history buffs.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing better than a book you think you are going to dread turning out to be a GREAT read. Again, the orphan storyline before the big 1906 quake and how family can be anything that loves each other.