When a forest fire forces Mandy and her mother to flee, Mandy's cat Bo jumps from her arms and runs into their old barn. With the fire barreling down on her, Mandy searches desperately for her cat, but the smoke is too thick, and he has to be left behind. As Mandy watches the fire burning through the night from across the valley, she wonders what they will find when they return. Will Bo be there? Will their house be standing? And how can she secretly wish it was Grace, her mother's pet goat, that was left behind instead?
Mandy finds that escaping the fire was only the first challenge. To find her cat and help her family deal with the aftermath of the blaze, Mandy must overcome her guilt and her judgments of others, especially Grace.
An exciting book for the younger reader.
