Running away to join the circus may have been the dream of many a small boy, but it some cases, it proved to be a deadly choice. In this fourth installment in this entertaining series, Hilda is pulled in several directions. She must be very good at her job as a maid, if she wishes to keep on working at the Studebaker mansion. Though her mother and siblings have all been reunited in South Bend, the cozy, united family they were in Sweden has not been replicated in the United States. Her family doesn’t approve of her relationship with Patrick, her boyfriend. Her youngest brother, Eric, is not happy with his life in the city. Then a friend of Eric’s runs away to join the circus and is found abused and beaten. When Eric sees something he shouldn’t have, he, too, runs away. It’s up to Hilda to figure things out, and bring comport to her family, if, indeed that is even possible in their new lives. Author Jeanne M. Dams has written a thought-provoking story of historical interest, illustrating the difficulties immigrants had adapting to new lives that could be especially cruel to children. ( )