Betti on the High Wire
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4.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Ten-year-old Babo has grown up on an abandoned circus camp in a war-torn country, believing her circus-star parents will come back any day now. So she's none too happy when an American couple adopts her, calls her Betti, and takes her away from her fellow parentless friends, to a very confusing America. Betti misses her old home, and she's worried her real parents will never be able to find her. She's determined to run away, but as she gets to know her new parents, little sister, and even a new friend, Betti starts to feel like maybe she could be happy in her new American home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this highly original debut, Railsback delivers a poignant comedy rooted in a tragic contemporary reality. Babo a fierce 10-year-old orphan in an unnamed, war-ravaged country watches over the younger "leftover kids" in the abandoned circus camp they call home. Her bad "fish eye" and few missing toes make her better off than those with missing limbs or damaged brains; her overactive imagination provides the group with never-ending stories and earns her the nickname Babo Big Mouth. Relentless at frightening off well-meaning foreigners who come looking for children to adopt, Babo is horrified when the American Buckworths choose her. In spite of her efforts to behave so badly the Buckworths will send her home, Babo, renamed Betti, slowly warms to America and her new family. The Buckworths except for mischievous daughter Lucy are a tad too warm and understanding to be completely believable, but Railsback's backstory of Mrs. Buckworth having been orphaned at a young age eases some doubts and helps Babo bond with her. While some of the subject matter can be grisly, Babo's bravado is endearing and her giggle-provoking adventures lighten the story's dark backdrop. Ages 8 12.
