The author spent a year traveling with Cirque du Soleil's "Saltimbanco" getting to know the performers outside of the circus tent, particularly Russian trapeze artist Olga Sidorova. Adult/High School–Schreiber loves the circus, and he is particularly fond of that immensely successful blend of acrobatics, theater, dance, music, and spectacle known as Cirque du Soleil. His deep appreciation shines (perhaps too brightly at times) on every page of his account of the behind-the-scenes life of the artists who perform in Saltimbanco , one of the company's many shows. The American writer turned a chance encounter with a Russian trapeze artist, Olga Sidorova, into an opportunity to hang out with the circus as it moved through Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Vienna. He met many intriguing characters, but none more fascinating than she. The highly talented performer is by turns feisty, charming, furious, endearing, and infuriating, but at all times devoted to her art. Any teen with ambitions of a career in the performing arts, as well as anyone who has attended a Cirque du Soleil show, should be especially attracted to this informed and enjoyable glimpse into the high-energy world of the circus performer. –Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Mark Schreiber was born in 1960 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His novel Princes in Exile was published when he was twenty-three, translated into five languages and made into a film. Two other novels have also been published in Europe and he has twice received Individual Artist fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council.