When the Circus Came to Town P

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Overview

A hilarious satire on small-town prejudice

It all started with the Halibuts. Then came Elmira Degoochy the snake lady. Then the Flying Gambinis — all seven of them and their mother. And Mrs. Harrison the fortune-teller, and Mr. Wydel the strongman . . .

These are the new residents of Springfield, the formerly peaceful Midwestern town where up to now young Ivy's life had been pretty uneventful. Ivy becomes fast friends with Alfred Halibut, who ...

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More About This Book

Overview

A hilarious satire on small-town prejudice

It all started with the Halibuts. Then came Elmira Degoochy the snake lady. Then the Flying Gambinis — all seven of them and their mother. And Mrs. Harrison the fortune-teller, and Mr. Wydel the strongman . . .

These are the new residents of Springfield, the formerly peaceful Midwestern town where up to now young Ivy's life had been pretty uneventful. Ivy becomes fast friends with Alfred Halibut, who is an aspiring writer like herself and the son of a circus publicity manager. She also befriends the other circus people who have moved into town. But many of her neighbors are not feeling kindly about this invasion of strange characters. Tensions somersault into a climactic tangle at the Springfield bake-off. In the midst of hurtling pies, one voice alone can bring peace and tolerance back to the community. When the Circus Came to Town is Polly Horvath's funniest novel to date, packed with vivid exaggeration and slapstick scenarios.

Although Ivy and her family welcome the Halibuts, and their son Alfred becomes her best friend, not all the townspeople are pleased to have circus people as neighbors, especially as other circus families move in.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
How many circus families can a small town tolerate? That's the ostensible premise for this rollicking ode to silliness, starring Ivy, a disheveled fifth-grade smart-aleck, and her new friend Alfred Halibut, whose father has just retired from a traveling circus. At first, the townspeople are intrigued when circus families who crave all-American normalcy move to placid Springfield. But the civic tolerance level dips markedly when Elmira the Snake Lady starts leashing her snakes and taking them for walks around the block, and when the Flying Gambinis start collecting garages for a backyard hobby. All the characters in this book are joyfully eccentric; observed by sharp-tongued narrator Ivy, their giddy characterizations acquire a toothy edge. Ivy and her lute-playing mother (in church, she's in a group called Lutes for Lent) occasion cunning parodies of parochial suburban life, and so does the climax, which involves mint cupcakes and rigging a church bake-off. Horvath (An Occasional Cow) remains a master of the middle-grade comedy. Ages 8-12. (Oct.)
School Library Journal
Gr 4-6-Ivy and her family live in an uneventful town-until the Halibuts move in next door. They are circus people, and the neighborhood is soon enlivened by the likes of Elmira Degoochy, snake lady; the Flying Gambinis; Mrs. Harrison, a fortune-teller; and her husband, the strong man. Ivy is happy to have finally found a friend in young Alfred Halibut, but not everyone welcomes the newcomers. The tensions in the community come to a head at a very funny church bake-off. With snappy dialogue and a witty text, Horvath makes a point about discrimination and tolerance, yet keeps the tone animated and humorous and never resorts to preaching. The many comic twists will leave readers in stitches. The characters are flamboyant yet lovable; the inventive plot is never dull. A four-star attraction.-Carrie A. Guarria, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY
Kirkus Reviews
For someone who plans to be a writer when she grows up, Ivy has led a pretty solitary life. When Alfred Halibut, son of a circus publicity manager, moves in next door, she finds a kindred spirit. But the Halibuts are only the beginning of an invasion of circus people in Ivy's small town, and not all the residents welcome them. Ivy launches several schemes designed to silence the malicious gossips and make the newcomers feel at home. In the process, her reformation of a gang of bullying goons into models of civilized propriety leaves her feeling a little like Dr. Frankenstein. Another enjoyably lightweight novel from Horvath (Happy Yellow Car, 1994, etc.): The message about the importance of community is not too heavy-handed, the silly situations never become outlandish, and the whole book hums along with good humor.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780374483678
  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  • Publication date: 3/28/1999
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 144
  • Sales rank: 764,116
  • Age range: 8 - 12 Years
  • Lexile: 810L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.43 (w) x 8.12 (h) x 0.39 (d)

Meet the Author

Polly Horvath is the author of many books for young people, including Everything on a Waffle, The Pepins and Their Problems, The Canning Season and The Trolls. Her numerous awards include the Newbery Honor, the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature, the Mr. Christie Award, the International White Raven, and the Young Adult Canadian Book of the Year. Horvath grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She attended the Canadian College of Dance in Toronto and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York City. She has taught ballet, waitressed, done temporary typing, and tended babies, but while doing these things she has always also written. Now that her children are in school, she spends the whole day writing, unless she sneaks out to buy groceries, lured away from her desk by the thought of fresh Cheez Whiz. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and two daughters.

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