Missing Mike

He's a rescue, a rust-colored mutt. Maybe there's a little 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 almost-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. With Jewel's help, she is going back to the evacuation zone to search for her dog.