Written by D. Anne Love
Published by Margaret K. McElderry, 2004
ISBN 9780689844256

When Mouse is injured by a raging Cook, she runs away from the only home she has ever known at Lord and Lady Dunston’s Manor. An orphan laboring in the kitchens, hungry for something more out of life, Mouse runs away without hope of surviving on her own. She meets a kindly group of travelers, who introduce her to a world at which she marvels. Everything is new to Mouse. When they arrive in a town, it is a great wonder, but not as much as the puppet show held in a traveling wagon. Captivated, Mouse begs the Puppeteer to take her on as an apprentice, thus beginning her true adventure. As she learns the art of making puppets, repairing them, and creating the puppet plays, she realizes that the gruff Puppeteer has secrets to hide. For Mouse, the puppets and the Puppeteer become her family, but her happiness does not come without a price. With well-developed characters, a tense storyline, and a tantalizing look at the craft of puppetry, you’ll find this book satisfying.

—Sydney Lange, children’s literature enthusiast