Publishers Weekly
★ 08/31/2020
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. Agent: Laura Crockett, TriadaUS Literary. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
* “DeSelm excels at creating a strong sense of place and nuanced characters… Laden with atmosphere and written in gorgeous prose, this stunning debut novel is a dark fairy tale about creating life, becoming human, and longing for connection, reminiscent of Pinocchio and Frankenstein. This author is one to watch.” - Booklist, starred review
“Allusions to source texts buttress gender-conscious explorations of belonging, honesty, autonomy, empathy, and the nuanced politics of creation... An artful adaptation and delightful debut.” - Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
09/01/2020
Gr 7 Up—In her debut novel, DeSelm offers a new take on "The Adventures of Pinocchio." Pirouette works alongside her father, Gephardt, the puppetmaster of her village. While he makes fantastic creations in his workshop, she excites the market crowd with masterly crafted productions to make money for supplies. Father and daughter soon receive a large order from the ruler of the city, the fair-haired Margrave, for an army of lifelike wooden soldiers. Unbeknownst to Pirouette, Gephardt promises the royal that he can finish the project earlier than their deadline for a higher payout. Although working tirelessly, the family fails to make this new deadline and Margrave imprisons Gephardt. Can Pirouette save her father? DeSelm starts with a fast-paced prologue but the actual story begins too slowly. DeSelm follows in Marissa Meyer's footsteps, changing the traditional fairy tale just enough with an interesting new premise. Pirouette is a fun character but her lack of self-confidence is disappointing. Flaws are sometimes necessary to make a character relatable, but Pirouette reacts to situations in ways that make the story feel choppy and contrived. The high points are DeSelm's detailed descriptions of the masterpieces that Pirouette and the other artisans of the village create. Fight scenes and deaths are somewhat gruesome, but not gratuitous. It is more the bland background characters that will disinterest fans of adventurous romances. Pirouette and Gephardt have dark brown and gray hair respectively, though their race is never specified. VERDICT A good general purchase where fairy tale retellings are popular.—DeHanza Kwong, Butte Public Library, MT
Kirkus Reviews
2020-07-27
Pinocchio meets Frankenstein in this gender-swapped light fantasy.
Eleven years after losing his wife in childbirth—and their only child too—master puppeteer Gephardt Leiter succumbs to loneliness and puts his talents to the test. Though the territory of Tavia outlawed conjuring magic generations ago, Gep recites a forest crone’s incantation beneath a lustrous blue moon to bring a lovingly crafted marionette to life, a girl about the age his daughter would have been. Seven years later, Gep’s health fails and Pirouette, his (literally) animated daughter, finds herself struggling to complete the last in a commission of 100 life-sized soldiers. Soon after, the ruling Margrave’s heir demands yet another malicious mannequin, and he puts long-banned spells to use, turning an army of wooden brutes loose and accusing Piro of the very sorcery he’s practicing. Imprisoned by a madman, Piro faces a dreadful final task….An earnest, appealing, and accessible narrator, Piro fastens together a magnificent world where, per her father’s favorite maxim, “a maker will always prevail.” DeSelm’s at her best describing artisans at work—from the fleet-fingered tailor to the sure-handed potter—stitching, striking, stoking, and shaping raw materials into works of beauty. Allusions to source texts buttress gender-conscious explorations of belonging, honesty, autonomy, empathy, and the nuanced politics of creation. A simpler story about the timeless battle between those who produce and those who merely consume undergirds the fable. Physical descriptions indicate characters of varying ethnicities.
An artful adaptation and delightful debut. (Fantasy. 13-18)
