The Show to End All Shows
Master Melville's Medicine Show Book Two
by Cary Fagan
Imprint: Puffin Canada
Format: Hardcover | 277 pages | ISBN 978-0-670-06586-8 (bound) | $18.00
The sequel and conclusion to The Boy in the Box.
Sullivan is still trapped with Master Melville's Medicine Show, along with Esmeralda, Clarence, and Frederick, travelling around the country. But his family has not given up hope, and Jinny and Manny are soon back on the road, picking up the trail of the mysterious caravan.
Finalist for the John Spray Mystery Award
“As with the first book, The Show To End All Shows is a highly adventurous, action-packed, charming book filled with spectacular storytelling and fascinating characters. The reader becomes engrossed in a far-fetched yet elegantly woven story, feeling every disappointment of near-rescue and of poorly executed performance. Again, the performances take centre stage in the children?s lives, with thoughts of returning home often pushed into the background. This push-pull of yearning to perform well yet pining for home, of learning to love the troupe yet both wanting and needing their real families, of detesting the Melvilles yet striving to please them, is presented with the crystal clarity that only a master storyteller, speaking through wise young people, could invoke. The tension's balance is wonderfully tilted by the arrival of the rebellious Lilly, a perfect occurrence to keep the story going and readers' empathy for the kids almost at a breaking point.”
— CM Magazine