Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

Frances is going to a new school in a new town Her mother is shut up in her room and her father is in Pakistan. Feeling utterly alone, her one solid connection is to her puppy Picasso, an anxious sweetheart. She loves art, and her illustrations of bacteria—though odd—give her solace. But when Frances meets Kit, she’s immediately entranced by this “real” artist. Through their friendship and their work on a mural project they learn the healing power of art. And they both have wounds to heal from—over the course of the book, we learn that Frances’s grief for her younger brother Henry who passed away is complicated by her feelings of responsibility. She was watching him when he fell into a pool, and believes that his death must have been related to a sickness he picked up from the pool water. It’s not until she opens up to her parents that she discovers that Henry died of a rare condition that was completely unrelated to the pool water. 

Meanwhile, Kit is pulling away and putting up walls. It’s not until Frances meets his mother by chance and learns that she’s struggling with her mental health that she understands the reason for his defensiveness. Together, they both learn to open up about their pain and trust others to help. 

This is a bittersweet and gorgeous book, with beautiful narration and a gentle, sympathetic outlook on grief and isolation. Readers will be touched by Frances’ difficult journey towards forgiving herself and moving forward, and inspired by the wonderful perspectives on art and creativity. 

art, secrets, friendship, trust, grief, mental illness, separation, dogs

1. Language: Bloody x 3, God/Oh my god x 21. 2. Frances’ younger brother Henry passed when she was younger—he had a rare blood disorder, but Frances didn’t know that. She blamed herself because he fell in the pool while she was watching him. Her parents confirm this had nothing to do with his passing.