Flash Fire — Caroline B. Cooney

Will the California wildfires bring Danna the summer excitement she craves?

In the Southern California suburb of Pinch Canyon, among the swimming pools and tennis courts, fifteen-year-old Danna Press finds her summer life so dull she longs for some cinematic excitement. A kidnapping? An earthquake? A presidential assassination attempt? Even the scary wildfires she watches on TV, raging in nearby Los Angeles, seem like they would liven things up. Though the wildfires are miles away with little to no chance of coming near her home, Danna has a contingency evacuation plan in place -- her kittens and the neighbor's horses first, her brother Hall, second. Her parents are safely at work. But in an instant the fire expands and threatens everything Danna and the other Pinch Canyon residents hold dear.

In an action-packed hour and a half, minute by minute, the wildfires will alter the lives of everyone who lives and works in Pinch Canyon -- including seventeen-year-old Elony, a recent immigrant, and her young charge, Geoffrey; handsome teenager Beau Severyn and his awkward little sister, Elisabeth; and the firefighters themselves.