Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

I loved Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth by the amazing Anna Fienberg, a teen fiction book that I compare (lovingly) with Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee.
Frances is the new kid at school, in a new neighbourhood, desperate to move on from her old life and the terrible secret she cannot possibly forget. It’s difficult fitting in, and she struggles finding a friend, until Kit arrives – another new student with a secret of his own. Frances and Kit form a bond around their art, and Frances’ new puppy, Picasso. Together they discover a love of nature and the beauty that surrounds them in the colours of everyday things; damp ferns and sunsets on a cloudy day.
As the two navigate their own personal demons, their lives start to spiral out of control – their friendship is tested and family secrets threaten to spill out.
This is a gorgeous story; achingly beautiful and ultimately uplifting, a heartache wrapped in a hug. I strongly recommend for readers 10+. And actually, adults too.

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth is a novel for middle-grade readers by award-winning Australian author, Anna Fienberg. Frances has only been in Oatfield a few weeks and isn’t looking forward to joining Year Seven at Oatfield High School halfway through the year. Dad’s away in Pakistan doing stories on vaccines; Mum is, understandably sad, and not just about Dad’s absence.

Frances has a new pup, Picasso, that Mum thinks will distract her from her obsession with health and infection: “You might think I’d be happy to have a new puppy. You deserve to have an owner who’s excited about you” but dogs seem to have a nose for smelly bad stuff: “Going walkies means having to watch this dog leap from one major health hazard to another” and nothing will help Frances forget her big guilty secret. So she walks Picasso and keeps drawing bacteria and viruses.

“I picked up a 4B pencil. I knew I’d feel better if I was drawing. Whatever I looked at travelled through my eyes and into my hand. Even if clouds turned into spirillum bacteria, it felt good to be rounding up reality and making it go in the direction I wanted, instead of reality rounding me up and yanking me somewhere I didn’t.”

When she does start the new term at school, she manages to embarrass herself, but not everyone thinks she’s weird: “I turned and saw a boy unfold himself like a deck chair, slow and easy. As he stood, he kept going up and up. He had a long thin face, sharp cheekbones as if cut from stone. But it was his eyes that I noticed. One green, one grey. They caught mine and creased at the corners with a half-smile”

Turns out Frances and Kit Jamison have their love of art in common, and soon they are spending time together, sharing techniques and the awe of their natural environment. But just as Frances doesn’t talk about her little brother, there are some things Kit won’t discuss: “I wanted to ask more but he was staring hard at his knuckles, drawing in his elbows as if he wanted to lock himself up like a suitcase, so I didn’t.” But she does wish he trusted her enough to talk.

Fienberg gives her readers a beautiful story that underlines the importance of communication and trust. It’s partly the absence of those that sees her main players plagued by shame, or fear, or guilt in its many incarnations. Quirky behaviours are the subject of stigma and bullying is sometimes the result. But there are also supportive people with wise words and good advice. And there’s Picasso, the dog with PTSD…

Fienberg’s descriptive prose is often gorgeous, be it about the Australian landscape, which the reader can practically hear, see and smell, or her wonderfully appealing characters, or the unique artworks, or feelings and emotions: “I didn’t know what to say. My guts were knotting. We both went back to holding the silence. It was so heavy. Unbearable. My arms ached to put it down. I wanted to count out the seconds, anything not to hear how quiet it had got.” Highly recommended!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Allen & Unwin.

2023 Book 33 - Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth by Anna Fienburg

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date 4 July 2023, for children 10-14 yrs.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a cracker of a book.
I felt it all - the happy, the sad, the elated, the funny, the absolutely downright devastating, the fear and the rightness of the very end...

It's a tale of how the head can believe things to be true, the heart can show you otherwise, and what friendship truly means.

Frances has started a new life - a new town, a new house, a new school. Not a single person says hello to her and she takes up residence in the library, among the shelves of World War II to draw by herself. In the library she meets Kit - tall, lanky, the slightly less new "new kid". They forge an emerging friendship - even if it starts off as just having someone else there so they aren't sitting on their own.

Neither of them could predict just what they would need to reveal to each other to become who they were meant to be.

It's one of those books that needs to be read by adults and kids alike - there is so much in it for everyone. Not even a little ashamed to admit I cried! I wouldn't at all be surprised if it ended up a prescribed text for school - the writing is so lovely, it's wonderfully descriptive without telling you what to imagine. Frankie's heartbreak is so real - and you can feel her shed the layers of guilt, and learn how to be the best version of herself.

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[ARC] 'Picasso And The Greatest Show On Earth' written by Anna Fienberg
Expected on: 4th July 2023

Notes:
● I should have done a cry counter because off the top of my head I think I almost cried twice and definitely cried atleast 4 times
● I grew attached to so many characters

Positives:
● Characters are described with precision
● The author gives out small bits of information, just enough to lure the reader in for more. It creates intrigue, making the reader want to keep reading
● The Chapter title font seems to match the protagonist. It's a small detail that doesn't occur often but counts for alot when it does
● Quotable
● Noticeable, steadily inclingly character development
● I love that the characters have a before and an after. A major life event where they can acknowledge a drastic change in their personality and behaviour.
● The descriptions of the settings change as the Frances character develops and her perception of her surroundings evolve
● It's realistic. The way some relationships grow close and other times become distant is very accurate.
● It felt familiar. Characters exploring the bush, the children talking and admiring. Friendly neighbours and a hard to understand neighbour. It was all so familiar, one of the best books I've read that's set in Australia.


Negatives:
● paragraph ending in the middle of a sentence
● Chapter titles sometimes squashed