It’s the summer of 1944, in the town of Hartford, Connecticut. Janie McConaughey is not a typical eleven-year-old girl. She and her imaginary friends have lots of adventures, much to the dismay of the grown-ups in her life. These fanciful journeys often get her into trouble. Like most things in Janie’s life, she doesn’t intend for them to happen, they just happen. But in the real world, a violent event unknowingly leads to an encounter with a very dangerous person, one whose intensions for the girl are anything but imaginary. When the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to town, Janie’s fantasies and reality collide, and it may be too late to tell them apart.

Set against the backdrop of small town America in the midst of WWII and events leading up to the Hartford circus fire, Janie’s story is as much one of a fight for her sanity as it is for her life. Told with humor and insight, the story weaves themes of friendship, family bonds, and how being different can be one’s greatest strength.