Miraculous

A traveling medicine show promises to cure all, but two kids learn it takes more than faith in the miraculous to fix things that are broken.
Thirteen-year-old Jack knows what cured his baby sister when his family thought she might never get well—Dr. Kingsbury’s “Miraculous Tonic.” Guaranteed to relieve maladies known to man or beast, Dr. Kingsbury’s potion can cure everything from pimples to hearing loss to a broken heart, and Jack himself is a witness to the miraculous results and the doctor’s kindness. When he had no money, the doctor didn’t turn him away but gave him the tonic for free along with a job—to travel with him from city to city selling his cure-all elixir.
When Dr. Kingsbury and Jack arrive in Oakdale, the town at first feels like any other they’ve been to. But it’s clear Oakdale is a town with secrets, and its citizens are slow to trust strangers.
Then Jack meets Cora, and a friendship neither expected starts to bloom. Together they uncover something else they didn’t expect—not only secrets about the town but also Dr. Kingsbury. As they race to discover the truth, they’ll have to decide who and what to believe before it’s too late.
From School Library Journal
Gr 4–7—Dr. Kingsbury boasts that his miraculous tonic has healed any and every discomfort or ailment it has encountered to date. However, the small town of Oakdale, OH, is slow to welcome outsiders. When Dr. Kingsbury's traveling show arrives in 1887 to sell his cure-all tonic, the residents are apprehensive of the man and his 13-year-old assistant, Jack. They aren't the only ones who think that something isn't right. Jack is growing distrustful of the doctor after their other traveling companion disappears and wonders how effective the tonic actually is in curing the town's ailments. While Jack tries to find the truth, he befriends a local girl named Cora. Their friendship echoes that of Cora's grandmother and a boy named Silas decades earlier. The author captures all of these threads through alternating perspectives across different time lines. This story is a unique look at 19th-century medicine shows, as well as the power of hope, and can be used for classroom study on point of view. All characters are cued as white. VERDICT Recommended secondary purchase for upper elementary and middle school collections where historical fiction circulates well.—Monisha Blair