In the north woods of Wisconsin following a forest fire that destroys their town in 1871, 17-year-old Mary James forms a new respect for her older sister.
Photographs, diagrams, and simple text describe the heat sensing organs of the jewel beetle and how scientists might one day use the same principle to detect forest fires.
A relaxing retreat to Camp David turns deadly after a faraway earthquake sets off a a chain of disastrous events that traps the president's twelve-year-old son, Luke, and his two friends within the compound.