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jormis29
Since: Mar, 2012
2022-05-30 21:30:06
Doesn't have a page yet but Dr. Dredd's Wagon of Wonders from the Coven Tree (of the The Wish Giver'') ?
BattleMaster
Since: Feb, 2015

I've been trying to remember the name of this novel for a while. Read it in 5th or 6th grade, so it must have been published in the 80s or earlier.
It was set somewhere between the late 19th and early 20th Century in a small town in the US. The protagonist is a teenage girl and the town is suffering from a devastating drought. A carnival arrives in town with a creepy ringmaster who promises that he can make it rain thanks to the power of a teenage boy who works for him, but in exchange he'll "plant the seed of Evil" in the town (it's strongly implied that he's the Devil).
The boy wants to escape the evil Ringmaster, which requires defeating the Ringmaster's three champions: a wrestler and strongman who gains strength from touching the Earth, a knight who's beaten by knocking off his helmet and revealing that there's nothing underneath, and a dragon who's beaten when the boy summons a massive rainstorm that washes the dragon and ringmaster both away in a flood.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? The book had some pretty strong Christian themes.