Circus Galacticus
Written by Deva Fagan
Life has never been easy for Trix. An orphan and an outcast among privileged students in the boarding school where she lives as a charity case, Trix survives because she is stubborn and angry. Suddenly everything changes. It starts small. She can read writing that no one else can on the poster for Circus Galacticus. A strange man appears outside her dorm room window, climbing in her room and attacking her. Then her hair turns pink. She needs answers and thinks that the mysterious message on the circus poster may hold the key. She meets the Ringmaster and he offers her a place at the circus. This is no ordinary circus. This is an intergalactic spaceship filled with outcasts who are searching for a way to survive against the repressive government of the Mandate. Trix must find out what her talent is and if she fits into this complicated world of new creatures and new rules before she endangers herself and the entire circus. She learns that the piece of meteorite that her astronaut parents left her is something much more important than she thought and gives her valuable clues to who she really is.
Throughout Trix’s journey of self-discovery, she remains stubborn and rebellious but she learns that she doesn’t have to always take on the whole universe by herself. Her courage to do just that helps her win the day. Lots of adventure and science fiction daring-do. Students can make a chart as a reading worksheet of each choice that Trix has to make, what her options are and what she chooses to do as a way of examining her character. There is a discussion guide on the author’s website: (http://devafagan.com/circus-galacticus-discussion-guide/). Although there is also a book trailer on the author’s website, students could make their own as a literacy activity.
TITLE: Circus Galacticus- AUTHOR: Deva Fagan
- PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011
- REVIEWER: Risa Brown
- EDITION: Paperback, 291 p.
- ISBN: 978-0-547-85087-0
- GENRE: Science fiction
