Hayley Barker
Scholastic UK
ISBN 9781407179674
RRP $16.99
Date of publication October 2017
Age Young Adult
Reviewer Megan Stuart
The opening chapters paint a depressing picture (set sometime in the future) of life in a circus where the performers have been sold into the life by their impoverished parents. These children are overworked, underfed and suffer at the hands of the ringmaster. However the heroine Hoshiko emerges as brave, compassionate and talented.
Enter Ben, whose mother (a high ranking government minister) agrees to take him and his brother to the circus. Although Ben’s life is privileged he isn’t particularly happy either.
The story is told through the voices of these two characters who fight to bring about some kind of justice. The book offers action in a circus setting, romance and the opportunity to examine injustice and inequities in society.
