Betti on the High Wire

Betti is her American name. Babo is her circus name, and the name that has followed her through years of war, loss and heartache. Babo is the name she is called when she is at home, in her country. But Betti isn’t in her country anymore, she has been adopted away from her abandoned circus camp, ripped apart from her war-torn country, separated from the other leftover kids that she has grown to protect… and taken all the way to America. America is where you will get lost and no one will come to find you, where they will scrub your skin raw until you are blue like a baby elephant and where they will trap you in the TV box if you are bad! And the worst part is, how will her real parents, whom she hasn’t seen in seven years, find her all the way in America?

The story of ten year old Babo will make you laugh and cry at the same time, and have you rooting for Betti the whole way. Author Lisa Railsback has created a character that views the world, from way up on her high wire and through her one good eye, as imperfectly beautiful… just like herself.

Reviewed by Ericka

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