Hidden on the High Wire

HIdden on the High Wire tells the story of a traveling family circus. Author Kathy Kacer begins the story in November, 1939 in Germany. Irene Danner is 13 years old and the star performer on the high wire for the Lorch Family Circus. She learned her balancing act from her grandfather, who has recently died, and passed the family business to her father, the first Danner to run the Lorch family circus, in four generations.

 This book is based on the real life Lorch Family Circus and the Althoff Family Circus. Both families went back generations in the business. Adolf really agreed to protect the Lorch Family during the Holocaust. He willingly puts his family and all those in his circus at risk to help this Jewish family.  It took courage for Irene to perform in the circus and to approach Aldof Althoff to secretly protect their family from the Germans. It also took bravery for the members of the Althoff circus to keep the secret and become friends with Irene and her parents.