Something isn't right in New Madrid, Missouri. Nine-year-old Marie sees hundreds of birds flying across the sky like a black cloud. The animals in the barn are restless. Then, early in the morning of December 16, 1811, an earthquake strikes. Chimneys across town tumble to the ground. Can Marie and her family find their way to safety?

Marty Rhodes Figley is the author of sixteen books, mostly about her favorite subject—remarkable people from our country's past. She earned her B.A. in American Studies from Mount Holyoke College. Marty, whose two children are grown, lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Paul, and their Airedale terrier, Scarlett.