This time Ranger, the time-traveling Golden retriever, finds himself in San Francisco in the middle of the great 1906 earthquake, and his mission is obviously to get a young Chinese immigrant, Lily Chen, to safety, but as they make their way through the ruined and burning city Ranger finds that he must also accomplish something else--finding Lily, who was sold as a servant by her parents, a new family who will care for her.

Han Liu rejects his father's attempts to teach him traditional Chinese values, but when an earthquake and fire strike Chinatown, separating Han from his father, a book of family proverbs is all Han has left to guide him. Includes author's note.