The Hired Girl

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

The Castle Behind Thorns

Fork-Tongue Charmers: The Luck Uglies

Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good

The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone

A Plague of Bogles

Grief Journal for Kids: Guided Prompts for Processing Grief & Finding Emotional Healing

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 Grisini’s 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, Clara’s life is shadowed by grief, guilt, and secrets. When Clara vanishes that night, suspicion of kidnapping falls upon the puppeteer and, by association, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall.

As they seek to puzzle out Clara’s whereabouts, Lizzie and Parse uncover Grisini’s criminal past and wake up to his evil intentions. Fleeing London, they find themselves caught in a trap set by Grisini’s ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it’s too late.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

The Hired Girl

Laura Amy Schlitz, 2015

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

Laura Amy Schlitz, Robert Byrd, 2007

The Castle Behind Thorns

Merrie Haskell, 2014

Fork-Tongue Charmers: The Luck Uglies

Pétur Antonsson, Paul Durham, 2015

Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good

Louie Stowell, 2022

The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone

Jaclyn Moriarty, 2017

A Plague of Bogles

Catherine Jinks, 2013

Grief Journal for Kids: Guided Prompts for Processing Grief & Finding Emotional Healing

Hope Lovgren, 2022