Sawdust in His Shoes / Eloise Jarvis McGraw

The circus is all young Joe Lang knows. The third generation of a circus family, he becomes a star bareback rider by the time he turns fifteen. But when his father, a lion-tamer, is killed by one of his cats, Joe becomes an orphan and is sent away to a vocational school while the law decides whether or not Mo Shapely, an old clown, is a fit guardian for him. Meanwhile, the circus moves on. Joe escapes from the school and stumbles into the farm life of the Dawson family, who take him in.

Mistrustful at first, Joe grows to love farming and his foster family. Faced with prejudice as an outsider in a closely-knit rural community, he closely guards the secret of his past—until the day his extraordinary acrobatic talent is called for to save a life. Joe earns respect, but there is still circus in his blood, sawdust in his shoes. Will he ever be happy away from his former life under the big top?

The debut novel of three-time Newbery Honor winner Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Sawdust in His Shoes is reminiscent of Ralph Moody’s Little Britches and Man of the Family, Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World, Sid Fleischman’s The Whipping Boy, and Walt Morey’s Run Far, Run Fast. Rediscover another great read-aloud treasure from the golden age of the children’s novel.

Named one of “Ten best children’s books of the year” – New York Times