Gingerman: In Search of the Toymaker - Paperback

by Tony Bertauski (Author)

WELCOME TO THE SCHOOL WHERE CHRISTMAS IS MANDATORY.

Twelve-year-old Chris Blizzard thinks he's hit the jackpot. He scored a last-minute invite to the Institute of Creative Mind, an elite mountain school that runs on snow, secrets, and year-round Christmas cheer. Candy cane chandeliers. Creativity as currency. It's the kind of place where even detention smells like nutmeg.

But underneath the cheer, something is seriously off.

Failure isn't just punished. It's erased. Cameras watch everything. Students vanish without explanation. And at the top of it all is Lord Kris Pelznickel, a reclusive founder who hasn't been seen in years but still manages to breathe down everyone's neck. Rumor says he's not looking for grades. He's hunting for talent.

As Chris scrambles to keep up with his gifted classmates, he stumbles on a hidden message buried in his textbooks. Decorations start glitching, students start disappearing. Then winter shows up early. The campus walls close in. And the line between student and toy starts to blur.

Now Chris has to unravel the Toymaker's legacy before he becomes just another cog in the Christmas machine.

Gingerman: In Search of the Toymaker is a darkly whimsical mash-up of holiday fantasy, boarding school mystery, and a pinch of dystopia. Perfect for fans of Coraline, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and A Series of Unfortunate Events, it's a cautionary Christmas tale about creativity, conformity, and the price of fitting in.