“In the fun fantasy novel Lies of a Toymaker, a girl explores her sense of identity and purpose in a world where toys come alive.” ——Foreword Reviews
“In this complex, fantasy nod toward Pinocchio, our heroine is brash and clever, wildly uninformed about her own life but equipped with a strong sense of justice that guides her choices.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
In LIES OF A TOYMAKER, a retelling of the classic Pinocchio, Paige, a queer teen and wooden toymaker’s daughter, is slowly turning into wood, and must cross the demonic Land of Toys to stop the evil Deathsprites before they destroy her world.
Award-winning author Kelly Jacobson (Tink and Wendy) delivers her latest fairytale retelling in this cross between the classic Pinocchio and a Stephen King novel like The Gunslinger. Paige (a queer eighteen-year-old girl) is a wooden toymaker’s daughter dragged from state to state as her mother, Petta Vitaly, hawks her creations from their caravan. When they finally return to Petta’s hometown, Paige discovers Toy Palace, her family’s animatronic toy business, but she keeps the discovery from her mother—only to find that she has begun to turn into a wooden marionette.
With the help of two girls who use Paige’s interest in them to pull off the heist, Paige breaks into Toy Palace and finds out some of the family history her mother has been hiding from her. Though Paige is abandoned by the two girls, she discovers a captive fairy in one of the upper rooms of Toy Palace, Prince Alexio, who shows her that an entire realm, the Land of Toys, has been destroyed by fairies called the Deathsprites—and that her family has been using Prince Alexio’s powers to help the evil fairies gain power through the animatronic toys they are selling for the last eighteen years.
Unable to cope with this new information, Paige runs away from Toy Palace and the captive prince, but her mother and a Toy Palace manager end up rescuing Prince Alexio instead. He finds Paige and takes her to the Land of Toys, where the Deathsprites have been turning sweet toys into terrible monsters determined to kill everything in their path. With the help of the talking cricket and Paige’s newfound strength as a marionette, the two must cross the realm of piled toy parts and frightful creations to stop the Deathsprites from making a portal to Earth that will bring destruction on that planet, too.
LIES OF A TOYMAKER is a queer feminist YA retelling of the classic that reexamines what it means to “lie” for the benefit of others, and how the lines between truth and fiction are not always as clear as they seem. The book is told from several different perspectives, but follows Paige’s journey most centrally. Many classics from the original story make an appearance, such as the whale, the talking cricket, the fox and the cat, and the Fairy with Azure Hair.
ISBN: 978-1-953103-51-2; $16; April 8, 2025; 286 pages;
Three Rooms Press; Trade Paper Original
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High Praise for LIES OF A TOYMAKER
Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction —LGBTQ Reads
“In this complex, fantasy nod toward Pinocchio, our heroine is brash and clever, wildly uninformed about her own life but equipped with a strong sense of justice that guides her choices. … Although a foreknowledge of the influencing story is not necessary, true Pinocchio fans will appreciate the overlapping themes and scenes, including the welcome appearance of a snarky cricket” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“In the fun fantasy novel Lies of a Toymaker, a girl explores her sense of identity and purpose in a world where toys come alive.” —Foreword Reviews
“To tell the truth, Kelly Ann Jacobson’s Lies of a Toymaker is a wild ride which artfully twists Carlo Collodi’s classic children’s novel into an unforgettable dark adventure about a queer teen learning to forge her own path. A page-turning pleasure from beginning to end!” –Julia Watts, author, Needlework and Quiver
“Jacobson takes her readers on a captivating journey in Lies of a Toymaker, an imaginative retelling told with grit and heart.” —Meagan Brother, author, Weird Girl and What’s His Name
“A gripping hero’s journey, full of lush prose and heart-rending storytelling. Absolutely perfect for teen readers!” —Micki Janae, author, Of Blood and Lightning
“Creepy and dreadful in all the best ways, Jacobson’s poetic prose brings a sinister modern bent to the classic Pinnocchio tale, stringing the reader into an engrossing family mystery unravelled only as far as she allows it. Lies of a Toymaker’s ethereal story will slowly sneak its way into your thoughts when you’re not reading it, and you won’t realize you’re hooked until it’s too late.” —Rie Lee, author, Vessel
“Lies of a Toymaker gleefully turns folklore on its head, gender-bending, raising the stakes, and leaving the reader to question how we understand the world. If toys come to life, might life also be reduced to the confines of a toy? Jacobson tempers whimsy with a severe, dark edge in this wonderfully imagined retelling. —Michael Chin, author, This Year’s Ghost
Past Praise for Kelly Ann Jacobson
For Robin and Her Misfits
“A diverse and entertaining twist on a popular legend . . . Unreservedly recommended.” —Midwest Book Review, Children’s Bookwatch, LGBT Fiction Shelf
“A queer retelling of Robin Hood full of heists, heart, and Florida humidity . . . Captures all the nuances of each main characters’ personalities as well as the found family that made Robin Hood and his Merry Men such a beloved classic.” —The Southern Bookseller Review
“[A] rousing heist adventure . . . Jacobson’s take on the well-known tale, told through a cinematic plotline, centers themes of found family and queer love.” —Publishers Weekly
For Tink and Wendy
“This atmospheric reimaging is rife with divided loyalties and harsh tragedies. Introspective and character-driven, it retains the misty, fairy-tale feel of impossible things and childhood yearning . . . Jacobson shines in thoughtfully rendering the classic characters as well-rounded, complex, and flawed individuals.” —School Library Journal
“A masterful reinvention of the classic. Full of teenage angst and yearning, it is poignant, relatable, and full of contemporary appeal.” —Foreword Reviews
“A modern tale that completely reinvents the characters … both beautiful and heartbreaking all in one.” —The Southern Bookseller Review
About the Author
Kelly Ann Jacobson is the author of the queer young adult novel Tink and Wendy, which won the Foreword Reviews INDIES Gold Medal for Young Adult fiction in 2021, as well as the queer young adult novel reimagining Robin and Her Misfits (Three Rooms Press), which was an INDIES finalist. Kelly has published many other books for adults and young adults, including the chapbook An Inventory of Abandoned Things, which won Split/Lip Press’s 2020 Chapbook Contest, and the literary speculative fiction novel Weaver (Livingston Press). Her short pieces have been published in Boulevard, Southern Humanities Review, Daily Science Fiction, and many other literary magazines. Kelly is the Assistant Professor of English at the University of Lynchburg and also teaches Completing the Novel for Johns Hopkins’s MA in Writing. Kelly received her PhD in Fiction from Florida State University in 2021. She currently lives in Virginia. www.kellyannjacobson.com
