Puppetmaster’s Apprentice, The
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Impressed by the work of the puppetmaster and his apprentice, Tavia’s ruler, The Margrave, has ordered dozens of life-size marionette soldiers to be sent to Wolfspire Hall. When the orders for more soldiers come in with increasingly urgent deadlines, the puppetmaster’s health suffers and Pirouette, his daughter and protégé, is left to build in his stead. But there is something far more twisted brewing at Wolfspire—the Margrave’s son wants Pirouette to create an assassin. And he wants her to give it life.
With Tavia teetering on the brink of war and her father dying in the dungeons, Pirouette has no choice but to accept. Racing against the rise of the next blue moon—the magic that will bring her creations to life—she can't help but wonder, is she making a masterpiece...or a monster?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
DeSelm's fantastical debut, an elegantly styled, gender-swapped retelling of "Pinocchio," transports readers into a wood in which magic's price must always be paid. Seven years before the story's beginning, Pirouette was created under a blue moon, conjured of wood, forbidden magic, and her puppet master father's wish for companionship. Now appearing to be 18 years old, she has become her father's apprentice, lovingly carving marionettes to sell and to perform with, her origins a secret only she and her father know. Piro's also a member of the town's Maker's Guild, a group of artisans and apprentices that are friends and chosen family. As she and her father rush to complete a large order of life-size wooden soldiers for the Margrave, their territory's ruler, her father's health deteriorates, and Piro must complete his work or suffer dire consequences. In addition to intricate details and nuanced characters and relationships, DeSelm aptly seeds the plot with a wealth of themes, among them the cycle of life and death, the unease of loneliness, and the necessity of reliance on others. Ages 14 up.
