Girls survive

In 1864 twelve-year-old former slave Charlotte is lucky enough to live on a plantation near Richmond, Virginia, owned by a Miss Van Lew, who hates slavery, and when Charlotte overhears a conversation she realizes that her mistress is gathering information and passing it on to the Union army; Charlotte is eager to help, (especially since her own cousin, Mary, is involved) but her enthusiasm may endanger them all--or help free 400 Union soldiers who...

Just turned twelve, Lily is the oldest of the three children in her Chinese American family living in San Francisco when the 1906 earthquake hits; her family has survived the quake, but as the city starts to burn Lily and her younger brother are separated from the others and must get to the safety of Oakland across the bay and hope that the rest of their family and friends are there waiting for them--but between the fire and the anti-Chinese violence...

In 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, twelve-year-old Audrey dreams of being an aerialist like her heroes, the Flying Wallendas, and so she is excited to go to Ringling Brothers circus with her six-year-old twin sisters; but at the show a fire breaks out, and as the crowd starts to panic Audrey struggles to reach her sisters--she gets Patty out, but Charlotte, afraid of heights, refuses to jump from the higher seats, and disappears as the big top comes...