At ten years old Babo is the oldest of the “leftover” kids living at an abandoned circus camp in a small, forgotten, war-struck town. All children at the abandoned camp have no family and are slightly deformed, Babo has a “broken eye” that is completely blind, but that does not stop her from imagination, creativity and caring for the younger children. She is very mischievous and gets herself and others in loads of trouble at the camp. Babo is one of the only children living there that does not want to leave. Although she knows her parents died in the brutal war against the foreigners, she believes if she stays at the circus her parents will be able to find her just where they left her. Her family was the leftover kids at the camp, and when she is suddenly adopted and shipped away to America, she tries everything to get back to her beloved family. Despite her attempts to be sent back to her town, she is stuck in America, where everyone and everything is so different. After spending about a week in America, Betti (as her adopted parents named her) starts to feel like a traitor to her country. She is beginning to like the foreigners and even made a friend named Mayda, who is a lot like her. After realizing she wouldn’t be hurting her friends from her old country by having fun in America, she begins to enjoy herself with her new family and friends. I thought this book was beautifully written and quite a nice story. I recommend this book to youth who enjoy a fun to read realistic fiction. Babo lives in the circus camp with the other left-over kids, orphans of an unnamed war in an unnamed country. She was found wandering in the destroyed camp when she was three-years-old, the only survivor of the traveling circus folk. But Babo believes her parents are still alive--her mother is the tallest woman in the world with a tail, her father the green alligator man and they live an active life in Babo's fertile imagination. Every night Babo tells her "Big Mouth" stories to the other kids in the camp, who hang on her every word and believe her stories as much as she believes them herself. With Auntie Moo, her stand-in mother figure and the adult in charge of the camp, Babo watches over her fellow leftover orphans, directs their games, and sleeps curled up with them at night in the lion's cage while bombs explode overhead. Babo likes her life, despite its hardships. She loves Auntie Moo, she loves her best friend, George, and she loves knowing that her parents will come back someday to find her. So when Americans, or melons as Babo calls them, show up at the camp, looking to adopt, Babo isn't interested. She never dreams she will be chosen; after all she's "broken" like so many of the others--Babo's eye was ruined in the war plus she's missing some toes. All of the kids are broken in some way, but Babo knows she isn't even pretty or friendly and cute, like George, despite his missing arm, plus she is a Big Mouth who always gets into mischief. So Babo is shocked when the melons, Mr. and Mrs. Buckworth, choose her to become their new daughter. The next thing she knows, Babo is on an airplane to America and a whole new life with a new name, Betti. Some of the leftovers would love to be the chosen one, but all Babo wants is a way back to her own country, her circus camp, and the parents she knows will come for her someday.I loved Betti/Babo. The author wrote her so well, with such humor, and with obvious understanding of the cultural confusion her main character would suffer. Babo feels real, and the reader cheers her on, hurts for her, laughs with her, and worries with her. Not only does the author do a stellar job portraying Babo's foreign point of view, but she does a stellar job writing from a child's point of view. Culture aside, Babo is a ten-year-old kid who reads like a ten-year-old kid, and the social conflicts she faces are dead on recognizable to anyone who remembers the joys and agonies of childhood. This book would be perfect for a fifth or sixth grade reader, although older readers (I am obviously much older than that) will also love it. In an end note, the author explains why she did not name Babo's country, and I agreed with her decision. Tragically, there are so many coutnries plagued by endless wars and so many orphans of those endless conflicts, that the author decided not to choose. Instead Babo stands for all of those children who have suffered in all of those many countries. She also stands for those who have survived. Babo is a triumph.
What do You think about Betti On The High Wire (2010)?
I listened to the audio book. It was not amazing. But it was good. I can say that I enjoyed it.
—Turnblad
A book for fourth graders no doubt ! It is so boring , I had to abandon it on page 43 .
—tnzirkle
A touching book about child refugees and adapting to a new country.
—simran
Reading this book to Audrey. Very interesting.
—ThaliaNunez
