Seventeen-year-old Victoria escapes an abusive father by joining the VanDrexel Family Circus in 1965, and fifty years later her writings guide her granddaughter, sixteen-year-old Callie, in facing the uncharted waters of public high school.
In 1965 Victoria escapes an unstable home, fleeing to the VanDrexel Family Circus. There she hopes to start a better life. Fifty years later, Victoria's granddaughter Callie is thriving. A gifted and focused tightrope walker with dreams of being a VanDrexel high wire legend just like her grandmother, Callie can't imagine herself anywhere but the circus. But when Callie's mother accepts her dream job at an animal sanctuary in Florida just months after Victoria's death, Callie is forced to leave her lifelong home behind. Poring over memorabilia including a box that belonged to Victoria, Callie finds notes that Victoria wrote to herself with tips and tricks for navigating her new world. She decides to use Victoria's circus prowess to navigate the uncharted waters of public high school. -- adapted from jacket