Mirette and Bellini Cross Niagara Falls
Grade 1-4-Mirette and Bellini are stateside in this adventure. Readers meet the duo on deck of the SS Magnifique bound for New York, where the famous wire walkers intend to cross Niagara Falls. On board, they befriend a Polish orphan who is traveling in steerage. Upon their arrival at Ellis Island, Bellini and Mirette try to shepherd young Jakob through the complex, intimidating immigration process. When he is threatened with deportation because his uncle is not there to meet him, Bellini steps in and identifies the boy as his assistant. The three travel to Niagara Falls and are soon swept up in the carnival atmosphere surrounding another boastful performer named Patch who has issued a challenge to Mirette and Bellini. As the day of the wire-walking duel dawns, Jakob observes that Patch is intending to ride a bicycle across the falls, a feat that looks quite daring, but is not since the bicycle is actually attached to the wire. Just after the boy makes this discovery, he sees one of Patch's cohorts tampering with his friends' wire. McCully's luminous watercolor-and-pastel portraits dramatize the thrilling sequence of events masterfully. Historical details from turn-of-the-century America conveyed by both the text and illustrations make this title useful for social studies as well as literature curricula.Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CACopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.