Wonder Show

Last updated
Wonder Show
Wonder Show.jpg
First edition
AuthorHannah Barnaby
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult
Published2012, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Media typePrint, e-book
Pages288 pages

Wonder Show is the 2012 young adult debut novel of American writer Hannah Barnaby. [1] The book was first published on 20 March 2012 in hardback and e-book formats, and was subsequently released in paperback on 8 October 2013. The work was a finalist for the 2013 William C. Morris Award. The book is set in the late 1930s and is told from multiple points of view, but primarily follows a young teen that decides to join a circus in hopes of finding her long missing father. [2]

Contents

Synopsis

When Portia's aunt leaves her at the McGreavey Home for Wayward Girls, thirteen-year-old Portia begins to plan her escape- despite the owner "Mister" saying that she would never be able to escape his grasp. She's desperate to know what happened to her father Max and as she believes that he left home to join the circus, Portia decides that the best way to find him is to join a carnival, Mosco's Traveling Wonder Show. Once there, Portia begins to slowly connect and form a family with the people around her even as her attempts to locate her father never seem to come to fruition. However Portia soon finds that not only is Mister keen on having her return to the home, but that the answers to her questions surrounding her father might just be at McGreavey's.

Development

Barnaby was inspired to create Wonder Show based upon her childhood experiences, as she would frequently attend the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and on one occasion, was selected as a "Queen for the Day". [3] Years later Barnaby began to research circus culture for the book while taking part in the Boston Public Library’s Children’s Writer-in-Residence program, where she found that circus people did not freely associate with carnival people and that "They all had their own codes of conduct and it seemed like the social segregations that still exist. It was almost like cliques in school.” [3] During this time she completed her first draft, but put the book aside for about two years due to her personal life and responsibilities as a teacher and parent. [2] She resumed working on the novel after one of the Boston Public Library grant judges asked after the novel and Barnaby continued working on Wonder Show for an additional five years before the book was acquired. [2]

Reception

Critical reception for Wonder Show has been primarily positive. [4] [5] [6] Multiple reviewers for the School Library Journal praised the work, [7] [8] and one marked it as a "Favorite Book Read in 2013". [9] The Horn Book Guide and the Richmond Times Dispatch both gave favorable reviews for Wonder Show, [10] and the Richmond Times Dispatch praised Barnaby's writing as mesmerizing. [11]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurie Halse Anderson</span> American writer

Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer, known for children's and young adult novels. She received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2010 for her contribution to young adult literature.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of libraries to better serve teens. YALSA administers several awards and sponsors an annual Young Adult Literature Symposium, Teen Read Week, the third week of each October, and Teen Tech Week, the second week of each March. YALSA currently has over 5,200 members. YALSA aims to expand and strengthen library services for teens through advocacy, research, professional development and events.

January LaVoy is an American actress and audiobook narrator. As an actress, she is most recognized as Noelle Ortiz on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. LaVoy made her Broadway debut in the Broadway premiere of the play Enron at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 27, 2010.

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award is an annual award given to a work of young adult literature by a "first-time author writing for teens". It is administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It was named for twentieth-century American publisher William C. Morris, whom YALSA calls an innovator and "an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults".

<i>Thirteen Reasons Why</i> 2007 novel by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why is a young adult novel written by Jay Asher in 2007, that follows the story of Hannah Baker, a high school freshman, and the thirteen reasons why she dies by suicide. Following her death, Hannah leaves behind a series of 7 double-sided cassette tapes detailing the 13 specific people and events that she blames for her demise. Two weeks after her death these cassette tapes are mailed out with directions to pass the tapes on to the next person on the tape. Hannah's life story is conveyed through these tapes, which are narrated by Hannah herself, and through the point of view of Clay, her classmate and the ninth person to receive the tapes. The inspiration behind the main character, Hannah Baker, comes from author Jay Asher's close relative who attempted suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Stiefvater</span> American author

Margaret Stiefvater is an American writer of young adult fiction, known mainly for her series of fantasy novels The Wolves of Mercy Falls and The Raven Cycle. She currently lives in Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adele Griffin</span> American young adult fiction author

Adele Griffin is an American young adult fiction author, writing numerous novels for young adults, most recently The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone, as well as the Vampire Island and Witch Twins series. Her novels Sons of Liberty and Where I Want to Be were both National Book Award finalists.

Stephanie Kuehn is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her William C. Morris Award-winning debut novel Charm & Strange, Delicate Monsters, and Complicit. Her novels often explore themes of mental illness and psychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. Lockhart</span> American writer

Emily Jenkins, who sometimes uses the pen name E. Lockhart, is an American writer of children's picture books, young-adult novels, and adult fiction. She is known best for the Ruby Oliver quartet, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and We Were Liars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martine Leavitt</span> American novelist

Martine Leavitt is a Canadian American writer of young adult novels and a creative writing instructor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. S. King</span> American writer

Amy Sarig King is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Corey Whaley</span> American author

John Corey Whaley is an American author of contemporary realistic novels for young adults. His debut, Where Things Come Back, was published by Atheneum Books in 2011 and Whaley won the Printz Award from the American Library Association in 2012, recognizing it as the year's "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit." In 2011 the National Book Foundation named him a 5 under 35 honoree. His second novel, Noggin, was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

<i>Shine</i> (Myracle novel) 2011 book by Lauren Myracle

Shine is a 2011 young adult mystery novel by Lauren Myracle. The book was published on May 1, 2011, and follows a teenage girl investigating a hate crime involving the beating and near-death of her best friend in a small, North Carolina town. Shine won the 2012 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award and is on the ALA's "YALSA Reader’s Choice" and "Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults" lists for 2012.

<i>Bomb</i> (book) 2012 adolescent non-fiction book by Steve Sheinkin

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon is a 2012 adolescent non-fiction book by author Steve Sheinkin. The book won the 2013 Newbery Honor and Sibert Medal from the American Library Association. This book follows the process of building the nuclear bomb by the discovery of nuclear fission by German scientist Otto Hahn on December 17, 1938.

<i>Love Letters to the Dead</i> 2014 novel by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead (2014) is the first novel by American author Ava Dellaira, published in 2014. This is a young adult novel told through a series of letters written by a girl named Laurel who is grieving the recent mysterious death of her sister May. The novel is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabel Quintero</span> American writer

Isabel Quintero is an American writer of young adult literature, poetry and fiction.

Julie Berry is an American author of children's and young adults books and winner of several national book awards.

Bahni Turpin is an American audiobook narrator and stage and screen actor based out of Los Angeles. Her audiobook career includes some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed books in recent years, including The Help and The Hate U Give. She has won 9 Audie Awards, including Audiobook of the Year for Children of Blood and Bone; 14 Earphone Awards; and 2 Odyssey Awards. Turpin has also earned a place on AudioFile magazine's list of Golden Voice Narrators, and in 2016, she was named Audible's Narrator of the Year. In 2018, Audible inducted her into the Narrator Hall of Fame.

<i>Charm & Strange</i> 2013 young adult novel by Stephanie Kuehn

Charm & Strange is a young adult mystery novel with paranormal elements by Stephanie Kuehn, published June 11, 2013 by St. Martin's Griffin.

Nina LaCour is an American author. Her novel We Are Okay won the Printz Award in 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Novelist visits Louisa County High School". The Central Virginian. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hayes, Summer. "Morris Award Finalist: Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby". YALSA. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 Velte, Marcy. "'Wonder Show' a years-long labor for author". Spotlight News. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Quealy-gainer, Kate (2012). "Wonder Show (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 65 (10): 498. doi:10.1353/bcc.2012.0438 . Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Wonder Show (review)". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Wonder Show (review)". Booklist. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Lindsay, Nina. "Strange but True". School Library Journal. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  8. ↑ "Book Review: The Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby". School Library Journal. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Burns, Elizabeth. "Review: Wonder Show". School Library Journal. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Ritter, Cynthia (Fall 2012). "Wonder Show (review)". Horn Book Guide. 23 (2): 88. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Amateau, Gigi. "Book review: Young Readers". Richmond Times Dispatch. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults". YALSA. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "2013-2014 Reading List Young Adults in grades 7-12th". Library in Jonesboro. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.