Puppet

(Paperback)

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Description

The year is 1882. A young servant girl named Esther disappears from a small Hungarian village. Several Jewish men from the village of Tisza Eszvar face the 'blood libel' - the centuries-old calumny that Jews murder Christian children for their blood. A14-year-old Jewish boy named Morris Scharf becomes the star witness of corrupt authorities who coerce him into testifying against his fellow Jews, including his own father, at the trial. This powerful fictionalised account of one of the last blood libel trial in Europe is told through the eyes of Julie, another servant girl.

Reviews

The tension builds to the trial scenes, and the climax is electrifying with its public drama on the witness stand and the heartbreak between Morris and his dad. Adults will want this, too.
Starred Review, Booklist

the book offers a valuable look at a historical phenomenon that contemporary readers would find difficult to comprehend; the subject matter will compel their attention.
Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Born in Hungary, Eva Wiseman came to Canada with her family when she was a girl. She began writing at a young age, and her first young adult novel, A Place Not Home, was a finalist for numerous literary awards across North America and was selected for the New York Public Librarys annual Best Books for the Teen Age list. Her second novel, My Canary Yellow Star, was also shortlisted for several awards, won the McNally Robinson Books for Young People Award, and was selected for the New York Public Librarys annual Best Books for the Teen Age list. Her novel No One Must Know was equally critically acclaimed and won the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award. Her novel Kanada was shortlisted for the Governor Generals Literary Award and was the winner of the prestigious Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction. Eva Wiseman is the mother of two, and she lives in Winnipeg with her husband.