One secret sends Mathiass world into chaos. Kidzworld reviews The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt.
Title: The Toymaker
Author: Jeremy de Quidt
Ages: 9+
Rating:
Mathias grew up in a traveling circus, raised by his grandfather—Gustav the conjurer. Gustav had a secret that no one else could know, a secret that put a bounty on his head. One day, Mathias’s world is turned upside down when an unfamiliar man arrives at the circus and demands to know the secret. But Gustav dies before revealing it.
The Mysterious Piece of Paper
Before he died, he gave Mathias a rolled up piece of paper that Gustav had kept hidden in the lining of his coat. Mathias doesn’t understand what could be so important about a scrap of paper. But whatever it is, the secret is worth dying for. With the paper stowed in his pocket, the mysterious man buys Mathias from the circus and takes him to an inn, where Mathias meets Valder—a dwarf who serves as the man’s personal killing machine.
The Fearless Four
At the inn, Mathias is rescued by a servant girl named Katta, and a man and boy from the Burner district. Together, the four of them investigate Gustav’s secret, while trying to stay alive. But within the foursome, one hopes to take revenge on another for a horrible, life-changing encounter in the past.
The Bottom Line
While The Toymaker is the title of the book, the actual toymaker character only makes appearances in two chapters. The novel has a timeless quality, similar to other YA books like The Giant-Slayer, Raiders’ Ransom, The Story of Cirrus Flux and The Blue Shoe. It combines adventure, mystery, and nail-biting moments. Kidzworld definitely recommends The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt.
