Ten-year-old Leo loves being a newsboy in San Francisco -- not only does he get to make some money to help his family, he's free to explore the amazing, hilly city as it changes and grows with the new century. Horse-drawn carriages share the streets with shiny new automobiles, new businesses and families move in every day from everywhere, and anything seems possible. But early one spring morning, everything changes. Leo's world is shaken -- literally...

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.