When the Circus Came to Town

Written by: Laurence Yep

Illustrated by: Suling Wang

Published by: Harper Collins, 2002.

ISBN 0-06-029326-8

Plot Summary:

Ten-year-old Ursula is a fun-loving girl who lives in Whistle, Montana. She is inventive, creative, and loves to travel on pretend adventures. Sadly, Ursula comes down with smallpox, which leaves her face badly scarred. Instead of facing her friends and the teasing she expects, she decides to stay cooped up in her bedroom. The Chinese family cook, Ah Sam, tries his very hardest to encourage Ursula to leave the house, but he is unsuccessful until he surprises her by bringing a circus to town. Ah Sam invites his cousins from California, and they put together a wonderful circus. The Chinese cousins are able to coax Ursula from her room to play the harmonica for the circus. Ursula saves the day and learns that appearances are not all that important.

Critical Analysis:

When the Circus Came to Town is a touching story set Montana in the early twentieth century. Some parts of the story have been fictionalized, but the story is based on real events. The story is short, at just over 100 pages, but the characters are well-developed. The main character, Ursula, is happy, adventurous, and fun-loving, until smallpox leaves her face with scars. After being scarred, she becomes a reclusive. Ah Sam, the Chinese cook, is hard working, encouraging, and caring. It is he who is finally able to persuade Ursula to come out of her house, even with her scars. Ah Sam is the only member of his immediate family living in America, until he can make enough money to go back to China and support his family. In the mean time, he is sending all of his earnings to his family, including a daughter he has never met. Ah Sam’s character is encouraging to readers as he is a true portrait of a determined person. The story’s plot includes a few instances of Chinese-American discrimination, which is true to the time period. The story is well told in a serious yet encouraging style. When the Circus Came to Town teaches a hard lesson for children: the importance of acceptance based on race or appearance.

Awards and Reviews:

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (2003)

Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars (2001)

California Young Reader Medal (2004)

School Library Journal: Ten-year-old "Pirate Ursula" is the fearless leader of her playmates, but after she contracts smallpox and is left with significant facial scarring, she sees herself as "Monster Ursula." She becomes a recluse, never leaving her family's stagecoach station in early 20th-century Whistle, MT. Ursula is a very human child surrounded by mostly sympathetic adults. Through the efforts of the new Chinese cook, Ah Sam, she eventually finds the courage to rediscover Pirate Ursula. He and his family of acrobats help to heal not just the girl, but also the racial divides in Whistle, and Ursula finally understands that it is what is inside a person that matters most. Touches of humor and whimsy counter the darkness she feels about herself. That these events are based on fact enables readers to accept the fairly quick turnaround in the villagers' racist attitudes. Wang's evocative illustrations add to the flavor of this quick, absorbing read.

Booklist: Ten-year-old Ursula, who lives with her parents at an early-twentieth-century Montana stagecoach stop, enjoys reading dime novels, dreams of seeing a circus, and plays pirates with her friends. Then she develops smallpox, which leaves her face pitted and scarred. Unable to risk the pity and teasing of others, she elects to hide away in her house, and not even the family's Chinese cook, Ah Sam, can coax her out. It takes a visit from Ah Sam's cousins, who produce a circus for the entire town, to bring Ursula back into the world. She, in turn, arranges for her own friends to put on a Chinese New Year celebration after the circus performers are stranded during a blizzard. Yep has based his novel on a true story, and his writing is, by turns, direct, humorous, and poignant. He doesn't gloss over the hardships faced by Chinese immigrants, but he clearly relished finding an upbeat incident to recount. Ursula and her friends will seem believable to young readers, and the descriptions of circus acts and Chinese New Year traditions are a plus. A pleasing classroom read-aloud and a useful supplementary reading for history and multicultural units.

Kirkus Reviews: A story taken from real life provides the foundation for a tale of healing through human interconnection. Ursula is a ten-year-old girl with a big imagination and a love for her small Montana town, finding enough happy magic at home by leading her pirate crew in fanciful adventures in between helping her Pa at his stagecoach station. But when she survives a smallpox scare only to be left with a pitted face, vanity replaces her ebullient spirit and she won't leave her room. Pa hires Ah Sam, a Chinese cook, to help feed the passengers when the stages arrive. Her "curiosity bump" is larger than her prejudice against him, and the two soon find they share a common loneliness as well as a common love of the circus. She begins once again to help in the kitchen, although she still won't show her face outdoors. She faces a turning point, however, when a mean-spirited stage passenger harasses Ah Sam, who cannot retaliate because of state law. Ursula decides she must cheer up the now ashamed cook, realizing that they all share what Indian Tom calls "the mark" of outsiders. One kindness leads to another as Ah Sam's circus relatives arrive to entertain the town with their special magic while Ursula is enlisted to back them up with music. Yep (Newbery Honor, "Dragon's Gate", 1994), has applied his considerable skills to embellish a true story into a moving parable of how people help each other overcome suffering. The simple plot uses perfectly believable characterizations to discuss deceptively complex emotions and issues for those who would mine its lessons, but Ursula's own story of healing is rewarding enough for those who read from the younger child's point of view

Connections:

Study and celebrate the Chinese New Year with readers. Have children try their hands at Chinese printing, or creating a Chinese dragon for a school parade. Research the hardships experienced by Chinese Americans during the early twentieth century.

Related Titles:

Bledsoe, Karen. Chinese New Year Crafts. Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publishing, 2005.

Lin, Grace. Bringing in the New Year. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

Namioka, Lensey. Half and Half. New York: Dell Yearling, 2004.

Wong, Janet S. This Next New Year. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

Yep, Laurence. The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. New York, Harper Collins, 2006.

Yep, Laurence. The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale. New York: Dutton Children’s Books, 2011.