Freaks (26 page)

Text copyright © 2013 by Kieran Larwood

All rights reserved. Published by Chicken House, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.,
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First published in the United Kingdom in 2012by Chicken House, 2 Palmer Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1DS.

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Images on pages 237–247 appear courtesy of: London Street Urchin © Frith Collection/SuperStock; Queen Victoria © iStockphoto; Barefooted Slum Children of London © Getty Images; Victorian Policeman aka “Tom Smith, a well-known peeler” © Getty Images; P. T. Barnum Poster © Advertising Archive/Everett Collection; Joseph Merrick aka the “Elephant Man” © The Royal London Hospital Archives; exterior of the Crystal Palace © SSPL via Getty Images; View of the Egyptian Court inside the Crystal Palace © Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images; Michael Faraday © iStockphoto.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Larwood, Kieran.

Freaks / Kieran Larwood. — 1st American ed.

p. cm.

Summary: In Victorian London, a lonely band of misfits trapped in a sideshow decides to put their extraordinary talents to use to solve the mysteries that no one else cares about, starting with the stealing of poor children from the banks of the Thames.

ISBN 978-0-545-47424-5

[1. Abnormalities, Human — Fiction. 2. Freak shows — Fiction. 3. London (England) — History — 19th century — Fiction. 4. Great Britain — History — Victoria, 1837–1901 — Fiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.

PZ7.L3263Fr 2013

[Fic] — dc23

2012002639

E-ISBN 978-0-545-52062-1

First American edition, March 2013

Book design by Christopher Stengel

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