Molly Brown is not a clown, but her mother is – a bona fide circus clown, and a source of endless embarrassment for an 11-year-old. Molly’s life is unconventional but basically good. Her mother left the circus to give her a steady life, and Molly’s best friend, a boy nicknamed Trouper, lives next door. But the focus of Molly’s life is her missing father. Molly’s mother says her father is dead, but Molly cannot believe this. When her mother performs with a visiting circus, Molly sees a clown who matches her vague memories of her father. This sends Molly and Trouper off on a wild chase, with Trouper, disguised as a girl to make him look older, driving (without a licence) the car Molly “borrows” from her mother. The clown is not Molly’s father, but the episode brings an unexpected revelation, confirming Molly’s suspicion that her mother has not told the whole truth.

Linda Rogers writes with warmth and wit and Rick Van Krugel’s line drawings are appealing, which makes the considerable failings of Molly Brown all the more frustrating. This book is badly written. Tense shifts carelessly from past to present between one paragraph and the next. The point of view mainly shifts between Molly and Trouper, but sometimes careens from character to character. In turns, the action is seen from the point of view of Molly’s mother, her mother and grandmother simultaneously, a woman in a ferry tollbooth, and a policeman. The narrative voice is troublesome as well, especially in the last chapter. At this crucial point in Molly’s life, the narrator pulls back and just tells the rest of the story – Molly did this, she felt that. There is not a single line of dialogue in the chapter. It is as if the author grew tired of the story and rushed through what should have been a meaningful and touching ending. The avoidable technical flaws are so many that one can only wonder how this book got into print in such a state of disarray.