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Winner of the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year Award
Winner of the Northern Ireland Book Award
"Filled with fantastical but real-feeling joy" - The Guardian
"A warm hug of a book" - The Irish Independent
"Highs, lows, love and laughter" - LoveReading4Kids
"Witty and clever. This novel really does sparkle" - Roddy Doyle
"Kelly McCaughrain is one to watch" - Susin Nielsen
A sweet and kooky romcom debut for fans of R. J. Palacio's Wonder, Sarah Crossan, and Susin Nielsen's We Are All Made of Molecules.
Twins Finch and Birdie Franconi are stars of the flying trapeze. But when Birdie suffers a terrifying accident, Finch must team up with the geeky new kid, Hector Hazzard, to form an all-boys double act and save the family circus school.
Together they learn to walk the high-wire of teen life and juggle the demands of friends, family, first love and facing up to who they are - all served up with a dash of circus-showbiz magic.
About the author
Kelly McCaughrain's debut,
Flying Tips for Flightless Birds, won an unprecedented hat-trick of Children's Books Ireland awards, as well as the Northern Ireland Book Award. Her second YA novel
Little Bang (2024) addresses topical concerns around teen pregnancy and the right to choose.
Kelly was the Children's Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, and works at Belfast Met College as educational support for young adults with special needs. She says: "I get my best ideas from observing teens. I love their high ideals and natural barometer for injustice. I always want to write things that are worthy of their huge capacity to scrutinise the world and their place in it." When she isn't writing, she likes to travel with her 1967 classic campervan, Gerda, and her 1977 classic husband.
Report
"[...] filled with fantastical yet real-feeling joy." The Guardian
