THE PAINTED TENT

The third and final account of Smiler, Samuel Miles, traveling on since The Runaways and The Flight of the Grey Goose, finds him in the painted tent of an ex-circus Romany Duchess who foresees happiness. To Smiler that will be clearing his name with the police, acquiring an education as a vet, and a girl -- Laura. In the meantime and for most of this book he is involved watching a peregrine falcon Fria who at first cannot fly at all, then roosts on a barn before she goes off to kill and mate in the environs. Canning does not write down to this older/younger audience, includes his bird lore with no fuss or feathers, and tells a likably sentimental story without permitting the pages to stick to your fingers.