Jiro's Life
The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson
Reviewed by Peter Kracke
Katherine Paterson's book The Master Puppeteer is set in
feudal Japan where Jiro and his family are trying to live though a
famine that has already lasted five years. At first, Jiro the thirteen
year old son of a poor puppet maker feels he is a burden to his
family. He eats more than his mother or father but does little to help
them gain a living. Jiro is clumsy. He sometimes messes up his
father's puppets because he is not concentrating and he can not
concentrate very well because he is always Hungary.
Because he feels a burden to his family Jiro leaves his family to
become an apprentice in the puppet theater that his father sold
puppets to. At the theater, Jiro becomes a relatively good foot
operator. During his apprentice ship at the theater Jiro gains
confidence. He goes from being a clumsy oaf to being a very skilled
puppet operator. The change is gradual but noticeable. The speed of
the change moves the book along at a very even pace.
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