u003cpu003e When a circus train derails in 1925, a lion escapes and finds shelter in a four-hundred-acre park in the middle of a big city. No one knows about the creature except for Sadie Menken, the feisty daughter of a pie-maker. As various squirrels, dogs and an expensive peacock meet unfortunate ends, and the park "beast" is spotted by visitors, the lion's presence draws the attention of the authorities.u003c/pu003e u003cpu003eCan Sadie save the lion? Can she resist the temptation to try to make a pet of a creature that is wild at heart?u003c/pu003e u003cpu003eThat will take the help of some unlikely allies, including her busy pie-making father, Miss Clemons the retired librarian, and a polite but lonely rich boy named Theodore, as Sadie discovers that an "all-right" ending can sometimes be just happy enough.u003c/pu003e u003cpu003eA story about a child who follows her heart, set at a time when kids were not always under a grownup's watchful eye, when wild and urban spaces intertwined, and adventure could be found in a city's back alley, or just past the picnic tables of the local park.u003c/pu003e
