Circus Mirandus

Fifth grader Micah Tuttle has grown up on his grandfather’s stories of the magical Circus Mirandus, but when Grandpa Ephraim gets sick, the parentless Micah and his friend Jenny try to find the circus, learning just how much power there can be in illusion. Beasley fills her middle-grade novel with over-the-top characters—elderly folk, young kids, magical circus performers, haughty and evil villainesses, talking circus animals—and reader Pinchot sinks his teeth into them all. The wicked aunt is creaky and growly. The loving grandfather is warm and twinkling. The children are enthusiastic and hopeful. Pinchot does a terrific impersonation of a talking parrot. The stakes are high, the action is wild, the resolution satisfying; Pinchon embodies the whimsy of the text, yet he also takes it seriously. He narrates with a sense of wonder in his voice that makes the magic of the book come alive. Ages 9–12. A Dial hardcover. (June)