Description
With the help of a young immigrant boy they meet on their crossing to America, two famous tightrope walkers manage to survive the treachery of a rival showman. By the creator of the Caldecott Medal book, Mirette on the High Wire.
From Booklist
Ages 4-8. McCully, whose Mirette on the High Wire was awarded the 1993 Caldecott Medal, is back in winning form with the third adventure showcasing Mirette in the heroic role of high-wire walker. This time, the young girl and her guardian, Bellini, journey to New York to fulfill the promise to cross Niagara Falls on a wire made at the end of Starring Mirette and Bellini (1997). McCully's depiction of the ocean crossing on an opulent liner, with Mirette practicing wire walking on a windswept deck surrounded by well-dressed passengers, is as intriguing as the daring Niagara Falls stunt. On the boat, Mirette befriends Jakob, a young Polish orphan from steerage, who is later instrumental in saving Mirette and Bellini. The dangers of the stunt are heightened by Mirette's determination to stand on Bellini's shoulders, and by the machinations of a rival wire walker who tampers with Bellini's wire. The climax is truly heart stopping. The story (based on an actual incident involving nineteenth-century daredevil Blondin, the model for Bellini) is gripping, the friendship theme is well developed, and the watercolor-and-pastel illustrations are breathtaking, whether depicting the luxury ship, the Great Hall at Ellis Island, the bustle in the town before the stunt, or the crossing itself. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved