Author: Cassie Beasley
Illustrator: Diana Sudyka
© Date: 2015
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Pages: 291
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, a small illustration at the beginning of chapters and a few full page illustrations at chapter starts
Publisher Recommended Age: 9-12 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book: Micah’s gradpa Ephraim has always told him wonderful stories about Circus Mirandus, a magical circus he visited when he was a boy. But now Grandpa Ephraim is dying, and terrible, grouchy Great-Aunt Gertrudis has arrived to take care of Micah. All the magic of Micah’s childhood seems lost until Grandpa Ephraim finally tells him the truth: Circus Mirandus is real, and the Lightbender, the circus’s greatest magician, owes Grandpa Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather.
The only problem is the Lightbender doesn’t want to keep his promise. And now it’s up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.
With wit and wonder, Circus Mirandus is a heartwarming classic that will test your belief in magic—and reward it.
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this awhile ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: I finished this one with tears in my eyes, it was beautiful and sad. While Grandpa Ephraim not using his miracle to get better was not a surprise, I enjoyed following the story and the magic of the circus. Realizing that things exist only for those that truly believe is a lovely idea. I enjoyed the descriptions of Circus Mirandus magic and mysteries. While I am happy that things worked out for Micah in the end, the process of getting there was a bit emotional as Great-Aunt Gertrudis wanted him to relinquish all belief/ties to magic as she drives him away from his home. If I were given a miracle, I wonder what I would use it for…
Family Unit:
- Micah lived with his Grandpa Ephraim, his parents had died in an accident. Now that Grandpa Ephraim is sick/dying, grumpy Great-Aunt Gertrudis has come to take care of Micah and take her home to live with her when Grandpa Ephraim dies.
- Jenny lives with her mother and father.
Items of Interest:
- Circus Mirandus can only be seen/experienced by children who believe in magic. Adults are not invited.
- Micah makes friends with Jenny, the smartest girl in his class. She sees everything in a logical way and tries to explain away every magical incident. Micah manages to get her to believe/see the magic of Circus Mirandus and she joins him for his first visit. Jenny supports Micah through his adventure and helps him find his belief in magic when he has doubts. She also helps him find solutions to his dilemmas.
- Micah was struggling to keep his emotions in check at school while Grandpa Ephraim is home sick and Great-Aunt Gertrudis treats him poorly.
- Victoria had lived with her parents. Her father changed ideas on what work that he wanted to do. At one point, he moved Victoria and her mother so that he could sell furs. They became a very wealthy family and Victoria became used to having everything that she wanted. Then her father decided that he was going to be a missionary. He loads his family onto a small plane. The plane plunges into the sea with Victoria’s parents, but she discovers that she can fly. Victoria finds her way to Circus Mirandus where she is allowed to perform even though she is young. She has an act that Grandpa Ephraim loves when he is a boy and visits Circus Mirandus. Victoria believes that she should be more in life than just a Circus Mirandus performer. Her last performance involves her sending all of her bird flock to their deaths while children are watching. She finds Ephraim before he knows that she left the Circus. They wind up getting married. She has a warped belief on magic. She eventually convinces Ephraim’s younger sister, Gertrudis, to jump off the garage because magic would save her. Gertrudis jumped and broke her arm in her fall. Ephraim then divorces Victoria.
- Micah steals a giant gorilla balloon to float into Circus Mirandus without a ticket, he lets go of the balloon and falls into a tent nearly to his death. The circus healer manages to save him.
- Great-Aunt Gertrudis tells Micah that he is not allowed to visit Grandpa Ephraim while he is sick in his room. She generally treats Micah horribly and he even spends a night out in the unfinished treehouse.
- Grandpa Ephraim was unique because he did not use his Lightbender miracle immediately, he saved it for his lifetime. He went through all of his ups and downs and continued saving his miracle until he found its purpose.
- Micah had spent the whole story believing that the miracle that Grandpa Ephraim was seeking from the Lightbender was to be well again. Turns out that his requested miracle was for Micah to join Circus Mirandus and live with the Lightbender. Micah does not learn that until after Grandpa Ephraim dies. Great-Aunt Gertrudis had loaded Micah into her car to drive him to her Arizona home. Cars on the road are stopped because a giant abyss had opened up across the road. Micah leaves Great-Aunt Gertrudis’s car and walks out into an abyss to find the Lightbender waiting on the other side. His belief that Circus Mirandus was waiting for him was his ticket to receiving Grandpa Ephraim’s miracle.
- Instead of living with grumpy Great-Aunt Gertrudis, Micah goes on to live with the Lightbender.