Monica and Tess laugh as they look at themselves in the mirrors of the fun house at the Grazeldi circus. Tess reminds Monica that, like their distorted mirror images, the circus is all about illusion. Davey Tucker seems like circus, yet Davey dreams about being a regular boy. Davey's father Leroy, an achondroplasoc dwarf, works as a circus clown. Since Wally Grazeldi is unable to pay the performers, many are quitting the show. But Leroy steadfastly remains, and Tess, a ""talent scout"" offers the talents of Monica as a clown and Andrew as a ringmaster. What Wally really needs is a human cannonball. He asks Leroy, but Leroy refuses, he has a phobia of small spaces. As Monica is coached in clowning by Leroy, she begins to learn more about the Tuckers, how close the father and son have been since Davey's mother, also a little person, died when he was a baby. Davey befriends Mary Jane, a local schoolgirl who is teased by her classmates for being overweight.
