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Summary
Summary
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step inside Mosco's Traveling Wonder Show, a menagerie of human curiosities and misfits guaranteed to astound and amaze! But perhaps the strangest act of Mosco's display is Portia Remini, a normal among the freaks, on the run from McGreavy's Home for Wayward Girls, where Mister watches and waits. He said he would always find Portia, that she could never leave. Free at last, Portia begins a new life on the bally, seeking answers about her father's disappearance. Will she find him before Mister finds her? It's a story for the ages, and like everyone who enters the Wonder Show, Portia will never be the same.
Author Notes
Hannah Barnaby holds an MA in Children's Literature from Simmons College and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. Formerly a children's book editor, she has also worked as a bookseller and a writing instructor. Hannah was the first writer to earn the Children's Writer in Residency at the Boston Public Library. Visit Hannah at hannahbarnaby.com, or follow her on Twitter@HannahRBarnaby or Instagram@hannahbarnaby.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-8-In this tour de force set in 1939, Portia Remini, 13, burdened with guilt over the death of her friend, escapes on a stolen bicycle from the McGreavey Home for Wayward Girls to search for her father. Believing Max departed their Gypsy camp to follow the circus, she joins a carnival and finds a family of sorts in Mosco's Traveling Wonder Show. She shares a trailer with Violet, a restless teenager whose parents and brother are albinos; trains for the ballyhoo under Jackal, who lures spectators to the sideshow of "freaks"; and enjoys the protection of Gideon, a young man whose father was impoverished by the stock-market crash. On the lam from sinister "Mister," who runs McGreavey's, Portia learns the stories of some of the carnival's strange troupe, among them, eight-foot-tall Jim and Jimmy, the midget he carries on his shoulders, and Polly and Pippa, beautiful conjoined twins whose naked dance is the sideshow's "blowoff." But her search for Max is turning up empty, and when Mister's dragnet closes in, Portia decides that to find the answers she seeks she must return to the horror of The Home. Melodrama aside, this predominantly third-person narration is richly textured with psychological tension, complex characterization, a vivid setting, and a suspenseful plot. Information in context and an author's note provide insights about circus life. Dark themes, some steamy elements, and a generous dose of swearing suggest a mature audience, but one that will be spellbound by this intriguing reading experience.-Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Abandoned by her parents, fourteen-year-old Portia Remini is sent to the McGreavey Home for Wayward Girls. After her only friend kills herself, Portia, wracked with grief and guilt, runs away in hope of finding her father and escaping the clutches of the Home's evil director, Mister. She uses her storytelling ability to get a job with Mosco's Traveling Wonder Show and soon befriends the performers, both "normals" and "freaks." Portia must uncover the truth about her past and the extent of Mister's treachery before she is able to realize that her true home and family now travel alongside her. First-time novelist Barnaby does an admirable job of weaving together this atmospheric Depression-era tale of Portia's journey toward self-discovery. Through third- and first-person narration (from the perspectives of not only Portia but also her carny friends, some of whom are based on real people), Barnaby skillfully develops her characters, with sinister villain Mister stealing the show. He's so smarmy and ruthless -- an utterly unredeemable man who preys upon his young charges and profits off their misfortunes -- that even when he's not in a scene, his ominous presence seems to haunt it. Through detailed description, the dreariness of the Home and the fantastical nature of the carnival world come vividly to life. cynthia k. ritter (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Fourteen-year-old Portia joins a circus freak show looking for the father who abandoned her, but she finds much more. Portia's odyssey takes place in a gothic, Depression-era Midwest. Her idyllic youth, surrounded by the stories of her extended family, ends when her widowed father leaves her with her stoic, thoroughly practical Aunt Sophia--who then turns her over to the distinctly un-homelike McGreavey Home for Wayward Girls, ruled by the sinister Mister. After her only friend commits suicide--an act Portia feels responsible for--Portia steals Mister's bicycle and runs away to the circus, where she hopes (with no real basis) to find her father. Her way with words wins her a place pitching the ballyhoo to the rubes who visit the titular Wonder Show. The languid, sensuous third-person account is periodically punctuated by the voices of Portia and the members of the Wonder Show, giving readers poignant insight into this fragile found family. The themes that delicately thread their way through the novel--of the power of story, of family and friendship, of seeking and finding--weave themselves together into a compelling depiction of Portia's very conscious act of self-definition: She can be, as her mentor in the ballyhoo says, whoever she wants to be. Infused with nostalgia and affection, this celebration of the deliberately constructed self will hold readers in its spell from beginning to end. (Historical fiction. 13 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In this unique, if slightly disjointed, debut, set on the back roads of Depression-era America, a girl seeks asylum among the freaks of a traveling-circus sideshow and winds up finding a family of sorts. Portia, dumped by her aunt at the gothic Home for Wayward Girls, run by a coldhearted man called Mister (famous for doggedly pursuing any who flee), goes on the lam when a friend dies by her own hand. Hoping the circus will not only hide her from Mister but give her a chance to find the father who left years before when hunting for work, Portia works as both a cook and an assistant to Jackal, who hawks the sideshow's marvels. Barnaby's portrayal of the sideshow denizens is fascinating. Each, in chapters separate from Portia's tale, tell stories of their itinerate lives. Sympathetic and fierce, they draw around the normal girl and, when push comes to shove, stand up for her. This will appeal to readers looking for something a bit different than most YA fare and who are intrigued by big-top history.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist