What do you think?
Rate this book
Edgar & Ellen #5
High Wire
Step up! Step up!
Step up and see such acts of
awe and oddity!
A bizarre circus creeps into Nod's Limbs in the dead of night, bringing with it caravans of strange and wonderful entertainers. Edgar and Ellen soon find kindred spirits among the fire-eaters and escape artists. But will the mischievous twins join the circus when it leaves town, and so avoid the wrath of Heimertz? In this topsy-turvy world of smoke and mirrors, nothing is quite what it seems....
Step up and see such acts of
awe and oddity!
A bizarre circus creeps into Nod's Limbs in the dead of night, bringing with it caravans of strange and wonderful entertainers. Edgar and Ellen soon find kindred spirits among the fire-eaters and escape artists. But will the mischievous twins join the circus when it leaves town, and so avoid the wrath of Heimertz? In this topsy-turvy world of smoke and mirrors, nothing is quite what it seems....
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 10, 1950
5 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
About the author
Charles Ogden
43 books56 followersCharles Ogden is the pen name used by a collection of authors at Star Farm Productions for the Edgar & Ellen book series for children and young adults. The pen name is credited with nine books (with a tenth upcoming), published by both Tricycle Press, and more recently, Simon & Schuster.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 27, 2022
çocukken okurken çok eğleniyordum yeni kitabın çıktığını göründe alayım dedim ama sanırım her kitap çıktığında almam gerekecek
March 31, 2009
High Wire was cute and campy pseudo-gothic reading. I was disappointed that the book ended without any resolution. I hadn't realized that the books were consecutive in a manner than cuts off the story in a to-be-continued manner rather than having an over-arching storyline and smaller, book-inclusive plot lines. I was cute, but I don't think I'll have any desire to read more of the series. I prefer Lemony Snicket's tales.
November 16, 2018
About a sibling conflict which was good but it was hard for me to picture.
August 16, 2019
This is actually the best one out of the first five. Hope the following ones are good because the first books weren’t as good.
April 13, 2020
Another solid entry into the series. This one might be a little more enjoyable just because the circus is a fun setting.
June 6, 2022
These books have me STRESSED
November 15, 2010
This book is about Edgar and Ellen joining in the circus to avoid Heimertz in a town called Nod's Limbs. Heimertz is the circus character that always smile and gets wild. Ormond is one of Heimertz's family member. Edgar and Ellen wants to be Ormond's apprentice, but they have to find three amber for him. The three amber are spider, cricket, and dragonfly. Ormond then tells them where to find the three amber. Edgar and Ellen don't know whether to trust Ormond or not. When they have found the amber, they give them to Ormond and then notice that they had done the wrong thing. Ormond ruined the circus and made the tent collapsed. Luckily, Heimertz saved the people from the disaster. Edgar and Ellen figured out that Heimertz isn't a bad guy afterall. Ormond made Heimertz and Dahila, the woman that help him, in jail. He also blamed it on Edgar and Ellen for the accident in the tent, where the circus occurred. Ormond escapes, while Heimertz and Dahila are in jail. My opinion of this book is that it is a great book because it has a lot of actions. The genre of this book is fantasy and adventure fiction. I like reading these types of books because fantasy fiction books with adventure in it help me think more in the fantasy world. When I think outside the box and think about the fantasy world, then I would not get bored and would get right into the book. This book is one of these books I am talking. The themes that I found in this book is betrayal and family. I think that this book really shows that you should be watching for people that will betray you and you shouldn't trust much of your family members all your time. Ormond betrayed the whole circus by stealing the secret and precious things from Benedict, the circus leader and tried to kill everyone in the circus. He used Edgar and Ellen to help him find the amber, so he could succeed. He also got his family arrested. Ormond is the character that stood out to me because he is very tricky and evil in the book. I could relate this character to a person that I used to be friends with because he also betrayed me by being envy and jealous of my grades. It was a classmate of mine in my middle school. I would recommend this book to people who like fantasies and adventure books and are young readers, too. I also would recommend this book to people who read Edgar and Ellen series because it is the fifth book in the series.
January 31, 2012
A book without an audience.
I loved the whimsy and uniqueness of this book. Edgar & Ellen are fun characters (think Adam's family). They sing these great silly songs and the chapters are riddled with amusing and well-done drawings.
This book is supposed to be for 8-12 year-olds. As a parent and avid reader of books for all ages, I was confused about who the audience really was for this book. The vocabulary is well beyond even advanced middle grade readers. It was a trip to read out loud (my 7-year-old picked this from the library for me to read to her). The story is fun, but the character's wearing footie pj's all the time were too "youngish" for the 8-12 crowd. The mystery was intriguing. Sydney and I were both interested as story went along (though the pace was slowed with extraneous details).
I didn't finish reading the book to my daughter but I did read the end myself and found the cliffhanger ending too dark for the younger crowd. None-the-less, my daughter, Sydney, will probably want to read more from this author.
I loved the whimsy and uniqueness of this book. Edgar & Ellen are fun characters (think Adam's family). They sing these great silly songs and the chapters are riddled with amusing and well-done drawings.
This book is supposed to be for 8-12 year-olds. As a parent and avid reader of books for all ages, I was confused about who the audience really was for this book. The vocabulary is well beyond even advanced middle grade readers. It was a trip to read out loud (my 7-year-old picked this from the library for me to read to her). The story is fun, but the character's wearing footie pj's all the time were too "youngish" for the 8-12 crowd. The mystery was intriguing. Sydney and I were both interested as story went along (though the pace was slowed with extraneous details).
I didn't finish reading the book to my daughter but I did read the end myself and found the cliffhanger ending too dark for the younger crowd. None-the-less, my daughter, Sydney, will probably want to read more from this author.
June 17, 2015
I adore the show "Edgar & Ellen", so I was very excited when I found this book. It's actually the fifth in a series but the first one I've read.
As usual the artwork for Edgar and Ellen is like a child's version of the Addams Family, which is a huge compliment. The writing is engaging and descriptive, and this from an adult point of view. Each character was clearly written... I really can't say anything negative about the book. Well, one maybe one little thing and it's purely person: I love creepy carnivals. More than is probably healthy. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get to spend more time in the carnival, or to explore it more. But lingering there as long as I would have liked would have been abnormal for the book's style, so I understand why it didn't happen. But still, my desire for more creepy carnival cost the book one star.
As usual the artwork for Edgar and Ellen is like a child's version of the Addams Family, which is a huge compliment. The writing is engaging and descriptive, and this from an adult point of view. Each character was clearly written... I really can't say anything negative about the book. Well, one maybe one little thing and it's purely person: I love creepy carnivals. More than is probably healthy. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get to spend more time in the carnival, or to explore it more. But lingering there as long as I would have liked would have been abnormal for the book's style, so I understand why it didn't happen. But still, my desire for more creepy carnival cost the book one star.
May 19, 2016
3/5 stars
I was so excited to go back to nod's limbs and meet Edgar and Ellen again, but I guess... I'm just too old for this? (which makes me really sad). This book is like the Lemony Snicket of my childhood.
The twins are still devious as ever, but even I can see right from the beginning who the bad guy was. Like I said, maybe I'm just too old for this book.
The story is quite interesting, the circus is really odd (in a good way), and I just realize how fond I am with Pet! What really make me fell for this series is the gothic atmosphere, and I'm glad this book still manages to pull it off!
I was so excited to go back to nod's limbs and meet Edgar and Ellen again, but I guess... I'm just too old for this? (which makes me really sad). This book is like the Lemony Snicket of my childhood.
The twins are still devious as ever, but even I can see right from the beginning who the bad guy was. Like I said, maybe I'm just too old for this book.
The story is quite interesting, the circus is really odd (in a good way), and I just realize how fond I am with Pet! What really make me fell for this series is the gothic atmosphere, and I'm glad this book still manages to pull it off!
June 10, 2016
I just really adored the cover of this book. My sister gave it to me as a gift when I was at third grade and I boasted the book to my classmates. The cover is like a smooth emboss and there are pictures inside of it and there's this part where a secret alphabet is written and I practically studied it.
I love this.
I love this.
February 20, 2014
In this book Edgar and Ellen want to join the circus. We also learn more about Heimertz. His family comes into town because they are part of a travelling circus.
I really liked this book because the reader finally gets to learn a bit about Heimertz the caretaker who does have a first name.
I really liked this book because the reader finally gets to learn a bit about Heimertz the caretaker who does have a first name.
October 10, 2016
This is my favorite book in the series. I liked how this story was different from all the others. Usually the twins are causing trouble, but in this one they are working towards the goal of joining the circus. I also really liked Pet's role in this book.
March 21, 2008
Great book for young adults, great series.
January 22, 2009
Berhubung Natnat lagi sibuk mau sidang S2, so aku yang jadi proofreader buku ini.... :-S
Read
December 19, 2016hwoooo... baru buku ini yang aku suka.
Read
January 29, 20095/10/2007
July 26, 2009
Heimertz bicara!
October 6, 2014
Aaahhhh... poor Pet!
And I feel sorry for the twins too! Gee... where are their parents, really?!
And I feel sorry for the twins too! Gee... where are their parents, really?!
August 18, 2015
This story has you turning the pages almost faster then you can read them. Reading this was so much fun. The adventure was non stop and totally leaves you hanging. Completely awesome!
March 11, 2016
Great story ala Series of Unfortunate events. This story ends in a cliff hanger and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.
June 16, 2019
Yah...tiba-tiba baca buku 5 sih, tapi tetep seru. Endingnya agak...ng..gitu. tapi suka banget huruf rune-nya! Sampai aku catat ulang dan hafalin XD
January 22, 2008
best of the series
Read
November 21, 2016Shoutout to my future ambition in life giving me an excuse to reread my favourite childhood books
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews