Lindsay Eagar’s dazzling YA debut welcomes us backstage at the Family Fortuna circus, where wonders lurk in wait to steal your breath away. You won’t believe your eyes!

Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita was born to be a star. Her tent sells out nightly, and every performance incites bloodcurdling screams. But when a handsome young artist arrives to create posters of the performers, she’s appalled by his rendering of Bird Girl. Is that all he sees? A hideous monster? Determined to be more, Avita devises a plan to snatch freedom out from under the greased moustache of her charismatic father. But will their fragile circus family survive the show she has in mind?

Eagar (The Patron Thief of Bread) presents a resplendent family saga set against the backdrop of a traveling circus. . . . By combining a beguiling premise with sinister ambiance, complex characterizations, and arresting, literary-leaning language, Eagar presents an absorbing read that examines the effect of familial pressures and conflict on one’s mental health and self-perception. * Publishers Weekly *
In her YA debut, Eagar (The Patron Thief of Bread, 2022) conjures up a fantastical historical novel featuring the Family Fortuna traveling circus, famed “from Texas to Tacoma. . . . Rich language envelops the reader in layers of sensory detail. At times nearly poetic, it can also be crass, anachronistic, and even funny. * Booklist *
Full of gorgeous monsters and fallen angels, rich language and deep longing, The Family Fortuna is a feast of a book. I swallowed it whole. * Alix E. Harrow, New York Times best-selling author *
Eagar perfectly balances both the sublime and the wretched in this talon-sharp look at what it means to be a performer—and a family. The Family Fortuna will linger in your heart long after you leave their circus. * Kiersten White, #1 New York Times best-selling author *
Heartbreaking, irreverent, hilarious, grotesquely gorgeous (or is it gorgeously grotesque?), and ultimately triumphant—The Family Fortuna paints an unforgettable picture of a dazzling circus, a messy family bursting with equal parts love and resentment, and most beautifully of all, a girl finding the courage to accept, embrace, and celebrate her true self. Words aren’t enough to describe how much I loved this weird, fantastical, exquisitely crafted book. It has my whole heart. * Claire Legrand, New York Times best-selling author *

Lindsay Eagar is the highly acclaimed author of the middle-grade novels Hour of the Bees, Race to the Bottom of the Sea, The Bigfoot Files, and The Patron Thief of Bread. The Family Fortuna is her debut novel for young adults.