Puppet- Eve Wiseman
Puppet is an “awful” book; not in the writing but in the horrific historical episode it looks at. We have read and been horrified by the numerous books related to the holocaust. Puppet looks at another piece of the Jewish story, where Jews are accused of murdering Christian children for their blood.
When Esther diappears in her small Hungarian village, the Jewish community is accuse of “blood libel.” Her best friend Julie, suspects that Esther, greatly abused and unhappy in her domestic situation, has taken her own life. But the horror takes on a life of its own, and the authorities are determined to find a scapegoat. To that end, they force a young Jewish boy, Morris, to confess to having seen the Jews perform this ritualistic murder in the synagogue. The trial begins, and at first it appears that the authorities may hold sway, but the enterprising lawyer for the defense begins to pick out inconsistencies in the testimony, and indeed, outright impossibilities.
This is a heart-rending story; one that will have you grappling with a world that could, and still does, allow such atrocities. When will we ever learn?
High School, Historical Fiction, YA | Comment (0)Leave a Reply
