Zarconi's Magic Flying Fish by Kirsty Murray

Gus McGrath has never met his grandparents, and is oblivious to their existence, until his mother falls ill with cancer and he is sent to stay with them while she recovers. As if the shock of going to live with virtual strangers wasn't enough to cope with, it then transpires that they run a travelling circus - an unfamiliar and daunting world into which Gus is expected to assimilate himself. At first he is bitter and resentful about his situation, and is bewildered by the seemingly indifferent attitude of his grandparents towards him, unaware of the complicated history between them and his mother. But as he gradually adjusts to life in the circus, and begins to uncover a web of family secrets, he finds himself more comfortable with his new life than he could have imagined. A classic 'rights-of-passage' tale, which confronts the familiar issue of dysfunctional families, but within the more exotic setting of the Big Top, Zarconi's Magic Flying Fish is a pleasantly diverting, if not particularly challenging read.