*possible spoilers This historical fiction has some wonderful descriptive language - the similes that the main character, Owen, uses are worth a look in itself. The author aptly uses the language of a boy growing up as the story is narrated - it's not overdone, it draws you into his thoughts.
The riverboat circus was based on a real one, and many of the details in the book are historically-based, and those details make the story better. Some readers may not be totally happy with the ending, but I appreciated that the author didn't make it a pretty pony party where everyone gets everything they want and went for something a little bit more realistic. (I would not call it a sad ending though, by far.) ( )

Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com

Twelve-year-old troublemaker Owen is so different from his little brother, Zach, that he knows Zach would stand a much greater chance of being adopted from the Orphan Train without him. When the train leaves Pittsburgh, Owen slips away and jumps, leaving his future to the winds.

Before the night is over, he finds himself invited aboard a circus boat by a kindly black man named Solomon...and nearly drowned in the river when the circus owner discovers Owen catching a show for free. Solomon convinces Hathaway, the owner, to let Owen stay aboard as Solomon's assistant in tending the animals and cleaning the boat. Thus, Owen becomes a hired hand on the River Palace.

Life in the circus isn't quite what Owen would have thought it would be, but it grows to become more of a home to him than the orphanage had ever been. From the misunderstood baby elephant, Little Bet, to Caleb, another boy on the boat who reminds him so much of Zach, Owen manages to find a place within his newfound family. But as the circus heads south towards New Orleans--a town plagued with yellow fever, bad storms, and people who think every black man is as good as a slave--Owen will need to decide where his heart and loyalties lie, and choose the road his life will travel.

Full of rich description in an exciting atmosphere and turbulent time in American history, Zimmer brings out a complete cast of very real characters and heart-wrenching situations. THE FLOATING CIRCUS is a masterful work to be enjoyed by anyone between the ages of 8 and 80. ( )