The Floating Circus [Hardcover]

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

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 yellow-fever in New Orleans and a devastating storm threaten the boat and its passengers. But it’s the menace of slave catchers that poses the greatest danger of all, and will put Owen’s loyalty to a freed black man to the test.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–7—In 1853 Pittsburgh, Owen Burke, 13, and his younger brother are abandoned by their widowed mother. Soon the boys are on an orphan train that will ostensibly take them to a better life on a farm. Owen jumps off and finds his way to a circus boat. Befriended by Solomon, an elderly former slave, the boy is given work mucking the animals' stalls and keeping the boat clean. He feels loyal to his mentor and develops a trustful relationship with Little Bet, an elephant. The boy is also taken under the wing of Mr. Greene, who runs the print shop and whose son, Caleb, becomes a surrogate younger brother. A sudden turn of events includes a yellow fever outbreak in New Orleans, a storm that forces the end of the River Palace circus, the sale of Solomon despite his "free papers," and an appearance by the famous clown Dan Rice, who buys Little Bet. While Owen agrees to join Rice, he also receives an offer to move with Caleb and his family to Philadelphia as their stable boy, learns that his brother has been adopted and is back in Pittsburgh, and determines to find and free Solomon. Although Owen seems more insightful than a 13-year-old is likely to be, his engaging narration moves along at a satisfying pace, and the door is left open for a sequel.—Sheila Fiscus, Our Lady of Peace School, Erie, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer has worked as a special education teacher and reading specialist. She is also the creator of more than 80 teacher’s guides for numerous publishers (including Bloomsbury), and has published a book of poetry, Sketches from a Spy Tree, a NYPL Best Book. She lives in [Waxhaw, North Carolina.] www.tracievaughnzimmer.com

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1st edition (July 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599901854
• ISBN-13: 978-1599901855
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,228,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer is an award-winning children's author who graduated from The Ohio State University and attained her master's degree at Miami. Currently, she teaches at her alma mater in the Lakota Local School District near Cincinnati, Ohio. Writing in a variety of genres from historical fiction and poetry to novels-in-verse, Tracie's six books have received critical acclaim including starred reviews as well as the Schneider Family Book Award. In addition, Tracie has created hundreds of guides for children's and young adult literature that are available for free on her blog. She has presented at NCTE, IRA and ALA as well as schools and conferences across the country inspiring teachers, librarians and students with her infectious passion for literacy.


Oddball facts/favorite things:

Someday I'll move to Brooklyn, NY or a remote Caribbean island.
Individually wrapped Ghiradelli milk chocolate caramels.
Revision over the blank page.
My first journal entry: December 24, 1978.
Buckeye football Saturdays
Movies with puffy dresses and men on moors
Louie, the world's largest collie and Mickey, the six-fingered cat
Poet: Mary Oliver
I wish I could sing, draw, or play the cello
Snow days

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book Fast pace, July 24, 2009

By 

Du Weldenvarden (MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Floating Circus (Hardcover)

I recently borrowed this book from the Library. The story is very fast paced and even at the end of the book I found myself wanting more. The books main character is 13 year old Owen Burke. Owen and his 8 year old brother Zach live at an Orphanage because their mother could not afford to feed them after their Pa died. The brothers go on the Orphanage train in hopes that they might get adopted. Feeling that no would adopt him and that Zach wouldn't go with out him Owen decides to jump off the train shortly before it really takes off. Owen then ends up passing The Floating Circus having no money an old free black man decides to give him a sneak peek. Owen ends up working for the man as his assistant. The story deals with Owen finding his own way in the world, dealing with the loss of his family, wondering how his brother is, as well as learning new things making friends both big and small.

This is a book that children of all ages will enjoy and quickly read. Adults who like the circus or just reminisce about it from when they were a kid will probably like the book as well.

5.0 out of 5 stars Step right up and get your copy, folks!, September 8, 2008

By 

Jessica Swaim "children's book author" (Parker, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Floating Circus (Hardcover)

This good old-fashioned adventure novel will appeal equally to boys and girls as well as to circus fans of all ages. Readers will instantly empathize with the plight of twelve-year-old orphan Owen as he learns the ropes of life aboard The River Palace. The vivid cast of characters includes an escaped slave, Siamese twins, and a misunderstood elephant named Little Bet. Amazing! Spectacular! Un-put-downable!

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, August 5, 2008

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Floating Circus (Hardcover)

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.

Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose