Book Review
Dec. 19th, 2013 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariWonder Show
by Hannah Barnaby
This YA novel was mostly delightful, although it bogged down a bit in the middle. During the Great Depression, Portia Remini's father disappears and then her aunt abandons her to the sinister McGreavey's Home for Wayward Girls and its creepy headmaster, "Mister". Portia eventually runs away and joins up with the sideshow part of a traveling circus in hopes of finding her father. As she gets to know the "human oddities" who appear in the show, and the "normal" people who work alongside them, Portia begins to find herself and to make a place for herself. However, Portia knows that Mister is looking for her.
Barnaby's writing is really good - lyrical without getting too flowery. The characters were interesting, although the book was not long enough for me to feel like I ever knew enough about them. Barnaby did a great job with the setting and atmosphere - I could smell the dust of the road and feel the confining chill of McGreavey's. I really enjoyed the use of the Bluebeard story and the portrayal of the world of the carnies and "human oddities". It was little like The Black Rider Opera for a younger audience.
by Hannah Barnaby
This YA novel was mostly delightful, although it bogged down a bit in the middle. During the Great Depression, Portia Remini's father disappears and then her aunt abandons her to the sinister McGreavey's Home for Wayward Girls and its creepy headmaster, "Mister". Portia eventually runs away and joins up with the sideshow part of a traveling circus in hopes of finding her father. As she gets to know the "human oddities" who appear in the show, and the "normal" people who work alongside them, Portia begins to find herself and to make a place for herself. However, Portia knows that Mister is looking for her.
Barnaby's writing is really good - lyrical without getting too flowery. The characters were interesting, although the book was not long enough for me to feel like I ever knew enough about them. Barnaby did a great job with the setting and atmosphere - I could smell the dust of the road and feel the confining chill of McGreavey's. I really enjoyed the use of the Bluebeard story and the portrayal of the world of the carnies and "human oddities". It was little like The Black Rider Opera for a younger audience.
