Smoke and Mirrors by K. D. Halbrook (review)

Fans of Cirque Magnifique are as amazed by the sequined and feathered performers as they are enchanted by the magic of the Light at the center of this unconventional family of gifted outcasts. Fifth-grader Sasha, the daughter of the Cirque’s trapeze artists, was taught to believe that the Light is the only thing keeping the sinister Smoke at bay. When she and her little brother begin attending school with the rest of the Islanders, who constantly bully and harass Cirque kids, Sasha’s connection to the Light wavers, and she begins to resent her family and everything that makes her special. After Sasha blows up at her parents, the Smoke emerges stronger, causes a high-flying accident, and takes her parents away. She and her brother must voyage to the Edge of the World, the source of the Smoke, to save their parents. Halbrook writes a heartbreaking account of a young girl’s spirit buckling under her longing to be accepted and her negotiating of a complicated legacy. The novel’s wistful prose and a relatable search for the Light will be rewarding for readers who can see in the Smoke any number of metaphors for the things that haunt us.