In the tradition of award-winning, illustrated novels Pax and The One and Only Ivan, Long Road to the Circus is a girl-empowering, funny, and fast-paced historical adventure by award-winning writer and librarian Betsy Bird, and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist David Small.

Twelve-year-old Suzy Bowles is tired of summers filled with chores on her family farm in Burr Oak, Michigan, and desperate to see the world. When her wayward uncle moves back home to the farm, only to skip his chores every morning for mysterious reasons, Suzy decides to find out what he’s up to once and for all. And that’s when she meets legendary former circus queen Madame Marantette and her ostriches. Before long, Suzy finds herself caught-up in the fast-paced, hilarious world of ostrich riding, a rollicking adventure that just might be her ticket out of Burr Oak.