The Palace of Laughter

August 21, 2006
An ominous traveling circus makes for a splendid setting in Berkeley's (Scarlette Beane
) first book in the Wednesday Tales. Ten-year-old orphan Miles Wednesday lives in a barrel, having escaped repeatedly from the Pinchbucket House orphanage, where laughter is forbidden. When the Circus Oscuro arrives in town one night, Miles sneaks in—and witnesses a tiny girl falling from a precarious height, only to be saved by the two wings on her back. Miles befriends the girl, whose name is Little and who turns out to be a 400-year-old angel, held by the circus against her will. Silverpoint, Little's mentor angel, was captured by the same circus and taken to the "Palace of Laughter." Miles decides to help her find him, but his quest becomes less selfless when the circus master kidnaps his beloved teddy bear, which Little only recently brought to life. At the Palace, the adventurers discover the charlatan the Great Cortado, who hypnotizes the masses and "sucks the laughter out of their souls"—their laughter can be reinstated with a serum that Cortado makes a fortune dispensing. Berkeley weaves painterly details into his depiction of this night-shaded Big Top world, where danger can be imagined around every corner. But he also injects an ample measure of humor to keep the darkness at bay. Ages 8-12.

July 1, 2007
Miles Wednesday is living in a barrel (having run away from the orphanage) when he rescues an angel from a circus. This leads Miles on a quest to find another angel and his stolen teddy bear. While the writing is overblown ("Miles Wednesday, wind-swayed, bread and cheese in hand..."), the story is inventive and moves along at a fast clip.

(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 1, 2006
Gr 4-7 -When the mysterious Circus Oscuro arrives in the dead of night, Miles Wednesday, a runaway orphan living in a barrel, is the only person in the town of Larde to witness the event. Later that same night, he is approached by a tiger who claims he can -smell the circus - in Miles. Thus begins a chain of events that introduces the boy to a winged waif named Little, a captive of the circus -s sinister ringmaster. Upon Little -s escape, the two set out to rescue her friend from the Palace of Laughter, which seems to be far more dangerous and horrible than the name implies. Berkeley -s first foray into writing is mostly successful; the story is filled with captivating and ingenious descriptive passages. While the author -s habit of introducing Miles at the beginning of nearly every chapter (with definitions such as -clean-shirted and cat-surrounded - and -dawn-chilled and hungry -) does tend to get stale, the lively plot and colorful supporting cast are enough to hold readers - attention. Try displaying this book alongside classic whimsical tales such as Norton Juster -s "The Phantom Tollbooth" (Knopf, 1961) or the work of Roald Dahl to create interest." -Christi Voth, Parker Library, CO"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.