Two boys from different cultures, one a Texan, one a New Mexican, get caught up on opposite sides of the US Civil War. Jemmy is a farm boy from San Antonio, Texas who loves the family mules and has no interest in adventure or going to war. Raul is the nephew of a prosperous Socorro, New Mexico merchant and wants to become rich and powerful like his uncle. Two boys from different cultures, one a Texan, one a New Mexican, get caught up on opposite sides of the US Civil War as Confederate General Henry Sibley invades New Mexico territory.
*2022 Moonbeam Silver Winner for Pre-Teen Fiction - Historical/Cultural*2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards - Finalist Children's/Juvenile (Fiction)*2023 CIPA EVVY Silver Winner for Juvenile Fiction - Middle GradeIn 1930s America a young teen struggles to find his calling among his carnival family of human curiosities while outsiders try to destroy everything he loves.Among the freaks and misfits of Oliver Neil's Marvelous Carnival, thirteen-year-old Manny Dobra longs to find his place. Orphaned as a baby he's been raised by the bearded woman, the alligator man, and the Leprechaun Family. Manny is a skilled artist, but he lives in the shadow of his deceased father's own talent. A new summer of promise is soon spoiled by the arrival of Ron the bully and the Oldies - the Order of the Lions' Den - hellbent on wiping out all carnivals. Manny realizes that what he finds lovely and ordinary is considered grotesque and abominable to the outside world. With the help of his friends Nickel, Margot, and Penny, Manny begins to traverse the tricky road of life, finding his footing in a world of human curiosities, both the beautiful and the ugly.
