Mr. Baker's eighth grade class thought they were in for a normal field trip to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, but their journey takes a terrifying turn when an earthquake hits and the students are plunged into a frigid underground lake, forcing them to fight for survival and find their way back above ground.

It is 1906, and when her family is cheated out of their tavern, fourteen-year-old Minnie Bonner is forced to become a maid to the Sump family, who are moving to San Francisco--three weeks before the great earthquake.

"When a sudden earthquake strands Celia's parents out of town, she finds herself on her own in a shaken city. She tries to reach out to other kids around her apartment building. Some of them, like the sad boy named Demetri, seem wary of letting her too close. The others call themselves Hunters. They claim the earthquake was caused by monsters only kids can see. And they think Celia is destined to save the city. Celia doesn't feel destined to save...

In the aftermath of a major earthquake, eleven-year-old Maya overcomes her own fear to help others at home and in northeast Japan, where a tsunami caused great damage. Includes author's note about the facts behind the story.