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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A good children’s book but not so enjoyable to re-read as an adult?
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Circus Shoes isn't my favorite of the Shoe books, but it's still an enjoyable read. What I love about Streatfeild is that she was able to gather both the emotions of children and the emotions of adults. There are no villains here, but no heroes either. Just a fun circus book (with a little dash of performance-based acceptance).
Another re-read as part of something I'm working on, and once again I was very surprised at how very, very good this was. What I found most interesting was the way she plays with the trope of "rags to riches" - this is almost but not quite riches to rags, but her point was that the two children who are the main protagonists have to learn to be "normal." They've been brought up by a super-snobby aunt, who makes them believe that they're better than everyone else. When the aunt dies, they go to find an uncle they hardly knew existed and discover that he works in a circus. He declares the aunt was a "fool," and the children discover how helpless and ignorant they are, but learn self-sufficiency through their own hard work and efforts. Streatfeild conveys the life of the circus vividly; Peter and Santa are both interesting characters. Peter, especially, is difficult to like as he has a temper and is argumentative, but ultimately learns to control himself and to think before speaking. Santa is earlier more sympathetic but also has to learn to make decisions for herself and to take responsibility for her own life.
Oh, Noel Streatfeild, how I love you. I've been wanting to read this ever since I knew of its existence. Yay for reprints! It's not exactly claimed a place with [book: White Boots] and [book: Ballet Shoes] as a favourite Streatfeild book, but it's one of her better ones. I like the unsentimentality of Gus's character. While it was great watching Peter develop, I was a little disappointed with Santa's character progression; I liked her and felt more could have been done with her. I don't think she really changed at all: there was no difference between her at the beginning of the book and her at the end.
Recently reading [b:Water for Elephants|43641|Water for Elephants|Sara Gruen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170161179s/43641.jpg|3441236] made this book a little bit more fun. It wasn't amazing, and it wasn't terrible. And I never could quite get over the fact that the main female character's name was Santa. What the ???? Some fun details about circus life, and I did like the way the kids grew up over the course of the story.
Keeping it, simply because my copy is an older edition with a fabulous dust jacket.
Keeping it, simply because my copy is an older edition with a fabulous dust jacket.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes