Mirette on the High Wire

Mirette on the Hire Wire

By Emily Arnold McCully
Historical Fiction

Mirette is a young girl who lives in Paris. Her mother owned a boarding house there and many would come to stay. One night, Bellini, a retired high-wire walker came to stay. Mirette would watch him walk a rope every day until finally she told him that she wanted to learn. She asked him if he could teach her but he refused. One day when he was gone, she tried on her own and fell immediately but she didn't give up and kept practicing until she finally succeeded. She showed Mr. Bellini and he was impressed so he taught her. One day, Mirette overheard a man talking about all the great things Bellini use to do so she asked if he could take her with him but he finally confessed why he no longer is a high-wire walker. He is afraid. Mirette is disappointed. At the thought of this, Bellini decides he needs to overcome that fear and Mirette is the person to help him do just that.

Bellini is a real life high-wire walker who did many amazing tricks but even though this book is considered "historical fiction," some of the facts in this book are not correct about him so as a teacher, I could use this book to prove the point of checking two or three sources before believing that something is true. I would also use this book for teaching perseverance because even though Mirette fell many times and was not good when she first started to learn how to walk the hire wire, she never gave up and in the end she became a great high wire walker.