Traveling to a time when things were different and more difficult for children makes for an interesting read. Suzy is an endearing character who is interested in traveling the world. She is a girl after my own heart, someone who works and cares for her family but has secret dreams. When her uncle moves back to town and starts working with Madame Marantette, the town legend. Suzy wants to experience the extraordinary and wants to train an ostrich. I found the story endearing and will share it with the kids I interact with at school.

We all have family stories. Stories about what parents or grandparents did when they were kids. How they met Mark Twain, or how they taught violin to Prince Charles. Or they might have been in the olympics, or joined the circus.

The author had a family story about a great uncle who worked for some former circus lady who kept ostriches, and she figured it was just that, a story, until she started looking into it, and found so much that was true she knew she had to write a story about this amazing woman, and the ostrich.

And this story is about Suzy, who learns how to ride an ostrich, even though that is not what is expected of her in the 1920s in the midwest. Told in the first person, and with a lot of fun comments about what she learns about ostriches, this is a great historical fiction novel for middle schoolers.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. </em>

This was a delightful story told from a young girl's point of view. She lives on a farm in 1920s Michigan and although her family is more than content to remain there for the rest of their lives, she dreams only of being able to travel the world and see what else there is to see. While the main character is fictional, the author does incorporate some family lore, and she brings her character into the sphere of a real-life woman, Madam Marantette, who holds the high jump record for riding side-saddle, as well as the distance record for any person in a surrey being pulled by a horse and ostrich harnessed together. The woman does have some connection with the author's family, including a no-account lazy uncle, and she apparently had a lot of fun incorporating true parts of her family history and taking liberties to make up other things to fit the story. This is a coming-of-age story for the main protagonist, but it's one of the most unique settings I've come across. I love the epilogue that explains what happens with her (and her uncle and brother) 10 years after the events in the book.

This book would be a great book for a middle school student who likes animals, strong female characters (children and adults), historical fiction, and adventure. The illustrations by David Small are really well done and add to the mood of the book this book actually had me googling things about ostriches that I didn't know before.

I received an advance review from NetGalley copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishing through NetGalley.
Suzy longs for more than farm life on the family farm in Burr Oak, Michigan. Readers meet her as a child and experience life with this extended family. They also see her sneak away to follow her uncle and meet Madame Marantette, a retired circus rider who has come back home. In addition to horses, Madame is training an ostrich to pull a surrey alongside a horse. Suzy realizes that Madame is the key to leaving Burr Oak and exploring the world. She commits to working with Gaucho so he learns to carry a rider. The story ends with Suzy riding in the annual fair parade with an epilogue set ten years in the future.
Set in 1920, Bird captures midwestern farm life in a small town. Her descriptions capture the pace of life. In contrast, readers see Suzy long to leave and explore the world. Bird's text is enhanced by Small's illustrations. Together, they pull readers into this portion of the world.
Readers will connect to how the characters feel about life. They will see themselves somewhere in this story and recognize interactions with others too.
Based off imagined interactions with actual people. Both Madame Marantette and Bud Thurskow were real people. Though much is known about the Madame, little is known about Bud's. Bird offers historical information on each at the end of the novel.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Suzy lives in a big family in the small town of Burr Oak, Michigan in 1920, and even though her family roots there are deep, she has a secret dream to travel the world. When her uncle and his family move back to the family farm, he mysteriously doesn't appear in the morning for chores, which is a serious business. Suzy follows him far out of town, and is surprised when he turns out to be working for the elusive town legend, Madame Marantette, working with her flock of ostriches. Intrigued not only by the woman who managed to make it out of Burr Oak and make a name for herself, but by the birds, Suzy decides that she will learn to ride Guacho, Madame's favorite ostrich, and train him to pull a surrey alongside a horse in order to help Madame make a world record. This is not an easy job, and her family is not thrilled with this. In order to be given permission to work with her uncle, she has to agree to do twice the chores around the family farm, which leaves her little time for her best friend. Madame takes an interest in her, giving her comportment lessons once a week, and commanding her to ride the ostrich side saddle, which she feels will be more of an "event". When her uncle is unable to go to work one day, she decides that she will try to ride Guacho, but takes a bad fall and dislocates her shoulder. Her parents are angry and forbid her to go back, but with the help of her brother, manages to sneak out to the fair where Madame is planning to participate in the parade with her surrey and unusual team. Suzy has to get up the gumption to take a chance that might allow her to escape Burr Oak. Will she e able to carry through with her plans?
Strengths: I feel that in order to fully appreciate the brilliance of this novel, you need to know the entire history of middle grade literature in the twentieth century and have read a great deal of it... and Bird definitely has impeccable credentials in both of these areas. Even the illustrations are perfect and have that lovely Joe and Beth Krush with a touch of Quentin Blake feel to them. I'd love to know Small's inspiration. The farm setting, the imposing Madame in her black gown, and Suzy's desire to see more of the world reminded me of some of my favorite books, like Langton's The Majesty of Grace. The supporting characters are all pitch perfect and wonderfully nuanced, even seen through Suzy's eyes. The fact that this is based on Bird's family's involvement with the real Madame Marantette and the fact that Small lived in her house... wow. I can see this being a great read aloud in elementary school, and would be a great way to include the study of ostriches in the classroom!
Weaknesses: This had a very solid 1920s setting, so when Suzy would occasionally come through with a more modern sentiment, it was a bit jarring. Younger readers won't recognize this, and it's something that is very hard to avoid.
What I really think: This reminded me a good deal of Fitzgerald's The Great Brain and Cleary's Emily's Runaway Imagination, and was a tremendously well researched and constructed middle grade novel. I would be perfectly happy if this won the Newbery award, since it combines key elements of classic novels while bringing a fresh energy to them. This might take a bit of handselling with my own students, since the cover is a bit different, but I will purchase this.

Although the book looks like a wonderful read for my youngest and I as we homeschool, the pdf file will not open on any of my devices. I'll continue trying to resolve this and if I can I'll change my review to fit accordingly

3.75 stars

Suzy Bowles is 12 years old, stuck in a hardscrabble farm family, and dreaming of a bigger world. When she discovers a local circus performer, she finds a way to work her way into a different life. Suzy has a tenacious grip, both with her strong hands and with her even stronger will.

Her "lessons" with Madame teach her more about herself than she had known. This story has humor, grit, spunk, and drama and it is ornery fun to watch Suzy ride her way to adventure -- on the back of a grumpy ostrich. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.