âRewarding.â âBCCB (starred review)
âA Wrinkle in Timeâinspired adventureâŠHalbrookâs writing is artful.â âKirkus Reviews
âThis is a story to savor.â âKathi Appelt, National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honorâwinning author of The Underneath and Keeper
âAdventure and magic unfold in this captivating story.â âSchool Library Connection
âA fairy-tale atmosphere wafts through Halbrookâs story of magic, love, belonging, and circus...Enchanting.â âBooklist
Circus Mirandus meets Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms in this beautifully written fantasy novel about a girl who must face her fears in order to right a terrible wrong, confront what it means to be different, and discover her own power.
Smoke has come to the Cirque Magnifique. And Sasha Brown is sure it is her fault.
Sasha has always loved the Cirque, a place filled with sequined costumes, dazzling spotlights, and magnificent tents. But when she starts fifth grade with the Islandersâthe ordinary folk from the other side of the Islandâfor the first time, sheâs not so sure she wants to be a Cirque kid. She starts to question her home and her Cirque family. Is the magic real? Are the stories even true? As the bullying by the Island kids gets worse, swirling blue-gray Smoke appears.
One night in the big tent, Sashaâs dad performs, twisting his body through the air as the lights dance. Sasha is supposed to be helping, but instead she sits beneath the bleachers, seething. She has wished for the Smoke to come and make it all disappear: the Cirque, her family, the Island with its mean Island kids. And the Smoke does come. As Sasha watches her dad, he flips and raises his arms out for the bar that is supposed to meet him, his bright grin confident and sure. But there is only airâŠand Smoke.
Both of Sashaâs parents disappear that night, and itâs all Sashaâs fault. What can she do but try and find them?