High Wire (5) (Edgar & Ellen) (U)

Step up! Step up! Step up and see such acts of awe and oddity! A bizarre circus creeps into Nod's Limbs in the dead of night, bringing with it caravans of strange and wonderful entertainers. Edgar and Ellen soon find kindred spirits among the fire-eaters and escape artists. But will the mischievous twins join the circus when it leaves town, and so avoid the wrath of Heimertz? In this topsy-turvy world of smoke and mirrors, nothing is quite what it seems....Children's LiteratureYoung twins, Edgar and Ellen, continue their adventures in this next installment of their unusual story, the fifth book in the Edgar and Ellen series. This time, the prank-loving youngsters find themselves involved in the exploits of a bizarre circus that comes to Nod's Limbs in the dead of night. Although they make friends among the young flying ant trainer, the fire eater, and the escape artist, among others, something is not quite right with their role in this community. They assume that their mysterious caretaker, Heimertz, and his one-eyed creature, Pet, are the enemy, but they soon learn that perception and truth are not always one and the same. Battling a heat-seeking squid, an animal-eating plant, some dancing peacocks, a tricky ringleader, and the mayor's power-hungry daughter, the twins emerge unscathed and a bit wiser although facing additional troubles that will surely result in another topsy-turvy tale. Macabre characters, encrypted messages and secret codes, humorous antics, and a whole lot of mystery will keep even reluctant readers interested in this fast-paced, action-filled story. The illustrations, rendered in pen and ink, are fabulous, capturing the wickedly weird world Edgar and Ellen inhabit.