Module 2: Mirette on the High Wire

Book Summary

Mirette’s life is busy as a young girl in 1892 Paris. She and her mother work hard to keep the guests happy at their boarding house for theater and music hall players. One day Mirette spies the reclusive new guest in the wash-yard behind the boarding house walking as if on thin air. It is Bellini, the famous tightrope walker. Mirette is drawn by the magical performance and begs him to teach her, which he does only after she spends day after day by herself practicing. When she learns just how famous he once was, she struggles to understand why he no longer performs. Bellini’s confession of fear disappoints Mirette. Not wanting to disappoint, he takes a chance and arranges a performance in the square outside of the boarding house. Mirette discovers him on the wire just as he freezes in fear and he doesn’t seem able to continue. Thinking quickly, she climbs to the other end of the wire and walks out to him. Together they complete the act to the delight of everyone. The possibility of a performing future for Mirette with M. Bellini is suggested.

APA Reference of Book

McCully, E.A. (1992). Mirette on the high wire. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Impressions

Most notable about this book are McCully’s illustrations, which are painted in the impressionist style, lush with color, featuring the costume and architecture of the period. The book is simply written for younger readers to understand. The characters are typical in their struggles to overcome weakness and do their best, but the plot is made more interesting and exotic because of the setting and theater folk at a boarding house in nineteenth century Paris.

There are several themes at play: hard work leads to success; believe in yourself; the power of the innocent to heal the fallen; fame and fortune bring happiness. While the message isn’t very deep, it does fit very well within the style of nineteenth-century fiction and can be appreciated as such. The illustrations alone recommend the book for inclusion in a school library.

Professional Review

As improbable as the story is, its theatrical setting at some historical distance, replete with European architecture and exotic settings and people, helps lend credibility to this circus tale. Mirette, through determination and perhaps talent, trains herself, overcoming countless falls on cobblestone, vaunting pride that goes before a fall, and lack of encouragement from Bellini. The impressionistic paintings, full of mottled, rough edges and bright colors, capture both the detail and the general milieu of Paris in the last century. The colors are reminiscent of Toulouse-Lautrec, the daubing technique of Seurat. A satisfying, high-spirited adventure.

MacDonald, R. (1993, January) Mirette on the high wire. [Review of the book Mirette on 
     the high wire by Ruth K. MacDonald]. School Library Journal, 39(1), 8. Retrieved 
     from www.slj.com

Library Uses

This book would make a magical storytime for younger readers. Activities that could accompany the story are painting with water colors or work on a balance beam. I suggest scanning the illustrations for projection on the Promethean board for full effect. Though library time with students is usually connected to core subjects, this book would be a wonderful addition to an art unit on impressionism. After the class, students could check out the book for further study. As well, it illustrates the Paris styles in clothing, décor, and architecture of the period that many find so captivating and could be offered as a library class supplement into the study of that period in history.