The Circus

Starred review from May 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* It's a romantic notion, as well-known as fairy tales and often instilled with the same spirit of enchantment, but running away to the circus doesn't provide Willow a magical escape from life's problems. On the surface, the calculated destruction of her father's fiancee's wedding dress and subsequent disappearance amount to nothing more than a rich girl's acts of teenage rebellion. However, Willow's first-person narrative exposes an array of deep-seated troubles propelling her from a posh life to a gritty existence on society's fringe. Unable to tolerate the prospect of acquiring the Handbag as her new, twenty-something mom, Willow runs away with a plan to track down her real mothera trapeze artist who returned to the circus when her daughter was three. Willow hitches her way to Hastings, a seaside town in England, where she believes her mother once worked, and ends up living on the streets. Still convinced that her future lies with the circus, she befriends a free-spirited homeless girl, Suz, who teaches her to swallow fire and walk a wire. Levez doesn't glamorize the girls' lifestyle, which leaves them hungry, filthy, and vulnerable. Yet as Willow begins performing, she truly comes alive. Some may find the ending too pat, but Willow's personal revelations make her compelling journey of reinvention soar.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)