Winner of the Scholastic Montegrappa Prize for New Children's Writing Poppy Pym has grown up in the circus taming lions before lunch & learning acrobatics in the afternoon But when she turns eleven her circus family decides she needs a more traditional education & she is sent to boarding school At first Poppy doesn't fit in at St Smithen's a school that is very different from the circus Then an ancient Egyptian ruby arrives at school & dangerous accidents start occurring Suddenly it's up to Poppy to save her new school & solve the mystery of the Pharaoh's curse!