Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Floating Circus

The Floating Circus
The Floating Circus
Author: Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Twelve-year-old Owen forgoes an orphan train that?s headed west only to find himself falling in with a completely unexpected group of misfits?circus performers on the River Palace. As this floating circus makes its way down the Mississippi, Owen slowly discovers that his fellow workers aren?t freaks, but loners, like he is. A brush with y...  more »
The Market's bargain prices are even better for Paperbackswap club members!
Retail Price: $16.99
Buy New (Hardcover): $13.29 (save 21%) or
Become a PBS member and pay $9.39+1 PBS book credit Help icon(save 44%)
ISBN-13: 9781599901855
ISBN-10: 1599901854
Publication Date: 7/22/2008
Pages: 208
Edition: 1st
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Rating:
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 2

4.3 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
Read All 1 Book Reviews of "The Floating Circus"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

GeniusJen avatar reviewed The Floating Circus on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com

Twelve-year-old troublemaker Owen is so different from his little brother, Zach, that he knows Zach would stand a much greater chance of being adopted from the Orphan Train without him. When the train leaves Pittsburgh, Owen slips away and jumps, leaving his future to the winds.

Before the night is over, he finds himself invited aboard a circus boat by a kindly black man named Solomon...and nearly drowned in the river when the circus owner discovers Owen catching a show for free. Solomon convinces Hathaway, the owner, to let Owen stay aboard as Solomon's assistant in tending the animals and cleaning the boat. Thus, Owen becomes a hired hand on the River Palace.

Life in the circus isn't quite what Owen would have thought it would be, but it grows to become more of a home to him than the orphanage had ever been. From the misunderstood baby elephant, Little Bet, to Caleb, another boy on the boat who reminds him so much of Zach, Owen manages to find a place within his newfound family. But as the circus heads south towards New Orleans--a town plagued with yellow fever, bad storms, and people who think every black man is as good as a slave--Owen will need to decide where his heart and loyalties lie, and choose the road his life will travel.

Full of rich description in an exciting atmosphere and turbulent time in American history, Zimmer brings out a complete cast of very real characters and heart-wrenching situations. THE FLOATING CIRCUS is a masterful work to be enjoyed by anyone between the ages of 8 and 80.


Genres: