I enjoyed reading the book Ranger in Time Escape from the Great Earthquake by Kate Messner. In the beginning of this book, Lily feels like she has to be independent. She feels like this for lots of reasons. The first one is that she lives in the mission house with many other girls, that is because her mother and father sent her to Chinatown in San Francisco. Lily thinks that she can’t rely on anyone because she couldn’t rely on her parents. In the end of Ranger in Time Escape from the Great Earthquake, Lily learns that she can trust people, even if they are not always there.
In the book, there are three people that Lily came to trust. The first one is a dog named Ranger. Ranger came to Lily when Lily was in a collapsing building. He saved her. Then Lily started to get attached to him. She held onto his collar and walked with him. When Ranger got hurt, she wrapped his cut and took the box around his neck so it was easier for him to walk. Lily knew that Ranger was her friend, and I think that this is when she started to trust him.
Another one of the people who she came to rely on is May. May is a girl who lives in the same chinatown as Lily. May needed Lily’s help, and when the choice to stay safe with the group of people that she was traveling with, or help May, Lily chose that she should help May. I think this shows that Lily already trusts May. After a long search that they went on to find May’s parents, May became like a sister to Lily, and I think that Lily trusts May as if they had known each other forever.
May has a little brother named Lee. Lee is also one of the three people Lily becomes friends with. Lee is the person that May needed Lily’s help to save. He was injured, and Lily lifted a shelf that splintered and cut her hands to save him. Lee broke his leg while he was stuck underneath the shelf that had fallen on him. Lily wanted to be a doctor, so when she realised that his leg was hurt, she wrapped it up and put a piece of wood in the cast to use it like a splint. Also whenever Lee cries out in pain, Lily feels like her heart might shatter. Which means she feels empathy for him. All of these things show that Lily and Lee are becoming friends and Lily can trust Lee.
After Lily helps May and Lee, she gets an offer to live with May and become part of the family. She accepted. But then to stay safe from the earthquake, she has to leave Ranger. Lily didn’t want to leave Ranger after she became his friend, but Ranger encourages her to go. She said goodbye, but then she realised that Ranger would be fine by himself. Lily learned that she can rely on people, and that it is okay to leave people because they will always be with you in some way. Lily got friends, family, and learned that it is okay to trust people.