Freakshow Summer

Review
"Mr. Bartley has created characters who come vividly to life and will live in the reader’s mind for a long time. Filled with pathos, action, drama and humor, Freakshow Summer is a must read for anyone who wants to have a glimpse at a past that is little written about but was very real." --Lee Pierce, author of the Silverjack McCall series and co-author of the Jake Timber, Texas Ranger series
In 1930s America a young teen struggles to find his calling among his carnival family of human curiosities while outsiders try to destroy everything he loves.
Among the freaks and misfits of Oliver Neil’s Marvelous Carnival, thirteen-year-old Manny Dobra longs to find his place. Orphaned as a baby he’s been raised by the bearded woman, the alligator man, and the Leprechaun Family. Manny is a skilled artist, but he lives in the shadow of his deceased father’s own talent. A new summer of promise is soon spoiled by the arrival of Ron the bully and the Oldies – the Order of the Lions’ Den – hellbent on wiping out all carnivals. Manny realizes that what he finds lovely and ordinary is considered grotesque and abominable to the outside world. With the help of his friends Nickel, Margot, and Penny, Manny begins to traverse the tricky road of life, finding his footing in a world of human curiosities, both the beautiful and the ugly.