Local Author and Professor Reimagines Pinocchio in Dark, Queer YA Retelling
Updated: Mar 17, 2025
By Caleb Adams
March 16th, 2025
Dr. Kelly Jacobson, creative writing professor at the University of Lynchburg, is set to release her latest novel, Lies of a Toymaker, on April 8th.
As a retelling of Pinocchio, the novel follows Paige, a teen turning into wood, as she journeys through the Land of Toys.
“[Paige] goes to the land of toys and has to find herself and her voice as she's finding her way across. So physically she's struggling and emotionally she's struggling with sort of ‘Who am I?’ ‘How can I voice what I want when someone else is so overwhelmingly like running my life based on what they want?’” Jacobson explains.
Lies of a Toymaker masterfully blends the eerie essence of classic fairy tales with a modern, thought-provoking twist.
As Rie Lee, author of Vessel, described, “It’s such a cool, weird book. Most of the time I was reading it, I felt like I was floating. Or being floated.”
Michael Chin, author of My Grandfather's an Immigrant, and So Is Yours, praised the novel for its originality.
“What I most appreciated about Lies of a Toymaker is the ways in which it so aggressively diverges from the traditional Pinocchio tale,” he said.
Readers can pre-order Lies of a Toymaker now and experience Jacobson’s haunting reimagining of a childhood classic.
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