TENDER OF THE STRINGS

A girl’s beloved new puppet entangles her in a sketchy situation in this debut middle-grade novel.

Dora Jane “DJ” Owens, almost 12, and her Uncle Rem help a pastry chef transport boxes of high-quality grapes. Their destination is a primo local restaurant in their Massachusetts city, where DJ spots an apparently discarded two-foot puppet without strings sporting “a blood-red bandana.” She often treasures what others deem junk and asks the pastry chef if she can have this slightly battered, one-eyed puppet that she names Nefe (after Egyptian Queen Nefertiti). DJ promises to give the puppet “the love and care it needs.” On DJ and Rem’s 29-block walk home, they encounter people enchanted by Nefe, such as an antiques collector. But DJ won’t give her up; she wants to fix her and learn all she can about the puppet’s history. Unfortunately, Nefe has ties to some shady individuals who may be looking to seize her. DJ vows to protect Nefe, even if that means becoming involved in an ongoing police investigation and putting herself in potential danger. Lingis’ young hero is compassionate and a touch overdramatic. The girl instantly falls in love with Nefe and continuously talks about the puppet as if she’s a living being with genuine feelings. This does create a solid parallelism between DJ and Nefe—the puppet is “abused and abandoned,” not unlike DJ’s vaguely described circumstances that include a mother who has died and an alcoholic father not in the tween’s life. This engrossing book moves at a leisurely pace but builds tension with clear signs of the oppressive summer heat and a brewing hurricane off the East Coast. At the same time, there’s the possibility of lawbreakers in the mix, although this easygoing tale ensures that DJ is safe nearly all the time. She lives with a doting grandmother, her winsome uncle, and her sweet little brother while quickly charming almost everyone, from cops and that pastry chef to a former military helicopter pilot.

An engaging, lighthearted thriller that highlights a tween’s benevolence and resolve.