Magnitude
On the morning of April 18, 1906, Cora wakes up early and walks down to the San Francisco docks, hoping her father has returned with money. Ever since the family’s mine was closed for unsafe conditions her family has struggled to eat and to buy medicine, and now Cora is being pursued by a shadowy gang of debt collectors. But things are about to get much worse, as an earthquake destroys the city, trapping Cora inside a buried ship along with a Chinese girl, Chi. They are rescued by Oliver, a former friend and the son of the fire inspector who shut down the mine. Oliver is helping his father but is appalled that the mayor has ordered the dynamiting of buildings to stop the spreading fire. As the three young teenagers try to escape the falling buildings and fire and find their families, they witness the incompetence and corruption of the city’s authorities and the disregard for life shown by soldiers sent to restore order.
Nielsen has once again written a page-turner that immerses middle-grade readers in a crisis moment in history. Chapter titles read like newspaper headlines documenting the collapse of buildings, spread of fires, and confrontations between alleged looters and armed federal troops. Prejudice against Chinese residents of the city looms large, as their families are denied access to safe places to flee the flames, gangs deliberately set Chinatown buildings on fire, and the authorities see the disaster as a pretext for sending the immigrants back to China. And in another twist that readers might find sadly familiar, the biggest looters of all turn out to be some of the men in charge. A thrilling adventure with echoes for the present day.
