The Toymaker - Softcover

De Quidt, Jeremy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552575003 ISBN 13: 9780552575003

Publisher: GARDNERS VI BOOKS AMS006, 2015

Synopsis

What good is a toy that will wind down? What if you could put a heart in one? A real heart. One that beat and beat and didn't stop. What couldn't you do if you could make a toy like that? From the moment Mathias becomes the owner of a mysterious piece of paper, he is in terrible danger. Entangled in devious plots and pursued by the sinister Doctor Leiter and his devilish toys, Mathias finds himself on a quest to uncover a deadly secret.

About this title

About the Author:

Jeremy lives in Somerset with his wife and their three children.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 6-8–The titular character does not long to bring joy to the hearts of children. Instead, he seeks to create a knife so sharp it can cut the heart from a living being, so he can transplant it, along with its life force, into one of his tiny mechanical dolls. The story, set in an imaginary 18th-century Germanic dukedom, begins with a short prologue describing the Toymaker's workshop in the capital city. Readers are then plunged into the perils of Mathias, boy servant to Gustav, a conjurer in a traveling circus. Supernaturally skilled, Gustav boasts when drunk that he knows a very big secret. As he lies dying, the evil Dr. Leiter appears, clearly after the secret, which seems to be written on a tiny wad of paper Mathias retrieves from Gustav's mouth. The plot then follows Dr. Leiter's pursuit of Mathias through the countryside. Companions join the boy in his flight, none entirely trustworthy: Katta, an abused serving maid; Koenig, a mysterious gentleman-robber; and Stefan, a youth from a charcoal burner's camp hidden deep in the forest. Dr. Leiter also has allies: Marguerite, a mechanical doll who can detect lies; and Valter, a superhumanly strong, indestructible, and sinister servant. Eventually the chase ends in a ruined monastery in the capital city, where the terrible secret is revealed at last: one that involves the Toymaker and could shake the dukedom to its foundations. With its choreographed fights, damaged bodies, flowing blood, and cliff-hanging chapter endings, the story will appeal to readers who like nonstop action. Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: GARDNERS VI BOOKS AMS006
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0552575003
• ISBN 13: 9780552575003
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368