Palace of Laughter

Late one night the circus comes to town and no one hears its big top go up except Miles Wednesday, the curious orphan boy, who lives in a barrel on the hill. He sneaks into the circus the next day and is fascinated by the acrobatic girl who can fly. When he discovers her locked up in a wagon he hatches a plan to set her free and the two become friends. Miles discovers that this circus has a dark side that is doing something to the townspeople. When he discovers that the circus owner has kidnapped his friend and the girl's friend, the two set off on an adventure to set them free.

The descriptive writing was wonderful in this book but the plot meandered at times. I thought it slowed down in some spots, such as when Miles gets stuck at the apple orchid because of the boy who tricked him. I'm not sure how it advanced the plot and I found it annoying. At the end of the book, one of the gang boys decides to kidnap Little and I thought it was distracting. I wasn't sure how the tiger fit into the story but this is the first book in a series and it might be explained later.

There is some violence and the clowns are creepy, but I thought the humor balanced out the scary parts. The theme of friendship, happiness, and family run throughout the book. If you like fantasy stories, you will enjoy this entertaining story.

I borrowed this eBook from my public library.

Readling Level 6.4
:-) :-) :-) 3 Smileys