About this item
WINNER OF A 2013 NEWBERY HONOR!Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz brings her sorcery to a Victorian gothic thriller an enthralling, darkly comic tale that would do Dickens proud.The master puppeteer, Gaspare Grisini, is so expert at manipulating his stringed puppets that they appear alive. Clara Wintermute, the only child of a wealthy doctor, is spellbound by Grisinis act and invites him to entertain at her birthday party. Seeing his chance to make a fortune, Grisini accepts and makes a splendidly gaudy entrance with caravan, puppets, and his two orphaned assistants. Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are dazzled by the Wintermute home. Clara seems to have everything they lack adoring parents, warmth, and plenty to eat. In fact, Claras life is shadowed by grief, guilt, and secrets.
About the Author
Laura Amy Schlitz is the author of the 2008 Newbery Medal-winning GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE, illustrated by Robert Byrd, and the 2013 Newbery Honor book SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS. She is also the author of A DROWNED MAIDEN'S HAIR: A MELODRAMA; THE NIGHT FAIRY; THE HERO SCHLIEMANN: THE DREAMER WHO DUG FOR TROY; and THE BEARSKINNER: A STORY OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM, a retelling illustrated by Max Grafe. Her newest novel, THE HIRED GIRL, traces the story of a farm girl who escapes her hard scrabble life in 1911 rural Pennsylvania, and journeys from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society household in Baltimore (Electricity! Carpet sweepers! Sending out the laundry!) , taking readers on an exploration of feminism and housework; religion and literature; love and loyalty. Schlitz's latest book, PRINCESS CORA AND THE CROCODILE, is brilliantly illustrated by Brian Floca. This beginning chapter book describes the life of an over-conscientious princess and her uninhibited reptile alter-ego. Schlitz lives in Baltimore, where she is a lower school librarian at the Park School.
