Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-5

Plot Summary: Flor loves the carnival life. She gets to be near animals all day and night and nobody thinks she's weird for loving animals so much, like they did at school. Every day, she goes to the family tent for the show to hear Randy's band sing. One day, she overhears Randy's dad asking for a raise, and Flor is shocked when Mr. Barsetti agrees that maybe her family's petting zoo isn't making enough money anymore! That puts panic in Flor, and she runs out of the show in the middle with a sudden hatred for Randy and her family.

Meanwhile, Randy is super aware of everything happening at her show and notices someone ran out. It really bothers her, but not as much as how few decisions she can make on her own. Her dad's rehearsal schedule and authoritative band leader style is starting to feel suffocating. Will she be able to find herself to prove they can handle the main stage? Or will Flor succeed in her plan to stop Randy from getting on that stage to save her petting zoo lifestyle?

Setting: small, rural towns

Characters:
Flor - 11 yo,
Miranda - AKA Randy,
Junior and Ronnie - Randy's siblings, backup members in the band
Mr. Barsetti - owner of the carnival

Recurring Themes: carnivals, living on the road, leaving family and friends, friendship, family, singing, independence

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: Although only the two main characters are well-developed, I was really impressed with this book. I thought it had a great balance of character development and action. The girls were authentic and real and the author did a great job of showing the friendship growing between them rather than telling us. The entire book only took place during the course of one day.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: medium-fast
Characters: narrator switches between Flor and Miranda, very good character development for the 2 main characters
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

This book would be good for all content areas but mainly for science. This book follows Flor and Miranda, two girls who's family's work for a carnival. Miranda and her family have a band while Flor and her dad run a petting zoo. When Flor hears that her petting zoo may be in danger, she devises a plan to have Miranda miss her big moment and save the zoo. While attempting to make Miranda miss her show, Flor and Miranda actually bond with each other and become friends, and Flor realizes she does not want Miranda and her family to leave the carnival. Great story of friendship ( )