Hidden Trapezes by Edward FentonDoubleday & Company, 1950

This is a sweet chapter book about a boy who’s from a family of trapeze artists. Robin, whose parents died in a circus accident when he was a small child, has been traveling the country with his uncle, moving when the circus does, staying in cheap hotels, never settling down. After an injury puts him out of work for some time, Robin’s uncle decides, when he’s well enough to perform again, to send Robin to live with an ex-snake-charmer friend of his in Flatbush. As disappointed as Robin is, he’s quickly won over by Mrs. Fatima and her one remaining pet snake, along with the rest of the ex-circus characters who live in Mrs. Fatima’s boarding house, and he soon has plenty to keep him busy.