Betti on the High Wire

Ten-year-old Babo and the other "leftover kids" live on an abandoned circus camp in a war-torn country. Babo believes her circus-star parents will come back for her any day now, so she is not one bit happy when an American couple adopts her. She hates her new name (Betti) and is confused by everything in America. She's determined to run away. But as Betti slowly begins to trust her new family and even makes a friend, she decides maybe she can stay just one more day. And then maybe another...

I just couldn't believe in Betti/Babo or her adoptive family, though some of the other characters felt more real. Perhaps because of that the action all seemed perfunctory, crossing narrative t's and dotting emotional i's.

So why is this book getting such a high rating? Because it is simply that good. It's not that it's a wildly made up fantasy about sparkly paranormal creatures or shape changing critters (though I love stories about both and the little girl in this story DOES have quite an imagination). It's not that it's a true story being recounted breath by breath (though it certainly could be and is is some fashion for many out there). It IS in fact the way the story speaks straight to your heart....by passing the mind and thought process that begs you to straighten out mispoken words, or make sense of non-sensible situations. It speaks in a language that we can all understand on some level. It combines the storytelling abilities of young Betti while show more delivering a truth about her and her life that's inevitable. You see it coming, and yet not as you are held captive by the level of emotions released page by page.

Certainly a story that children can enjoy with it's recounting of circus life, the "lie berry" and "fow tins"...but also a very touching book for the adult reader with whom the real world tragedies may echo even deeper. Happy reading... show less

phaned 10-year-old girl, is renamed Betti when she is adopted by a family in America. Before being adopted from her war-torn country, Betti lived with other orphans in an abandoned circus camp. When Betti comes to America, she must learn a new language. She must learn how to eat new food. She must learn new ways of interacting with others. And she must learn to trust her new family. Students will enjoy reading about even the most mundane activity as they experience it through Betti’s eyes.

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