Circus Mirandus
By Cassie Beasley
Hi! Do you believe in magic? Well, if you do, Circus Mirandus is the right place for you! It’s a place full of magical creatures and things, but to find it, you’ll have to follow the wind. At least, that’s what happened with Micah.
One day when Micah went to school, he regretted having gone at all. He was working on a Social Studies project with a friend named Jenny Mendoza. Only, he had forgotten to do his part of the project. Jenny had come up with a bunch of fun facts and stuff like that at school. They knew it was going to be the best report out there. The only problem was that Micah hadn’t brought the artifacts like he was supposed to. But he had been tying some knots that morning and he thought he could show them to Jenny as a quipu (a string of knots tied together). Jenny got a little angry at Micah for not doing his part and they had a small argument. But, in the end, Micah said something that he hadn’t meant to say – that he was dying. He meant his grandpa, and Jenny understood.
Micah’s grandpa, Ephraim, used to tell him stories about going to Circus Mirandus when he was a boy. Micah believed in them, of course, every bit of them! But, one day Micah’s grandpa Ephraim started having lung problems. His great-aunt had to come and take care of him, and that aunt was awfully mean to Micah. Micah called her Great-Aunt Gertrudis. Right now, Micah is spending the night in his treehouse. Aunt Gertrudis kicked him out of the house because they had a big fight.
That same night, Jenny told her mom that a girl had asked her to spend the night (when she really hadn’t). Instead, Jenny went over to Micah’s house. Micah and Jenny worked on their project all night since it was due the next day. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, came Chintzy, a big, beautiful parrot. Chintzy flew down, landed on the treehouse, and told them that The Lightbender was giving Grandpa Ephraim his miracle. Grandpa Ephraim had told Micah that The Lightbender had promised him a miracle when he was young. And now he knew what he wanted the miracle to be.
Eventually, Micah headed out on his bike with Jenny to Circus Mirandus. Will he succeed in getting The Lightbender’s miracle for his grandpa, or will all hopelessly fail and Grandpa Ephraim sadly pass away? As I always say, read the book to find out!
I recommend this book to readers who will get through the scary parts even when the book gets tough.
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor): There were these two big scary parts, one more scary than the other. But, if you just keep reading, it will seem like nothing in the end.
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor): There was no yucky-lovey stuff in this book. (Hugs don’t count.)
I give this book 4 ½ wands.
I always had something to keep me going, whether it was something that was funny or something that was really happy or even my mom there to help me. I loved the book when it came through the end, so I'm glad my mom and all those other little details helped me push through to the end! Other than this one really scary part where I had to run and get my mom, it was thumbs-up, great all around!
