Robbed on the train platform as soon as he arrives in the city, eleven-year-old Oscar Starling soon finds himself in the middle of the Great Chicago Fire when he chases after his thief, who is herself in need of rescue
By weaving personal accounts of actual survivors together with the carefully researched history of Chicago and the disaster, [the author] constructs a ... narrative that recreates the events ... And finally, he reveals how, even in a time of deepest despair, the human spirit triumphed, as the people of Chicago found the courage and strength to build their city once again