Pas de Deux

by Alyssa B. Cole

A retelling of E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King."

Clara is eleven when she first meets the Nutcracker. With her youthful imagination, she sees beyond the doll and finds the soul within. She is enchanted with him, and is distressed when he disappears on Christmas morning.

But then he appears next Christmas, and the next. What she once assumed was a child's fancy is revealed to be genuine magic. As the wicked Mouse King threatens both her family and her dear Nutcracker, she must find the heart within her to break a centuries-long curse.

Ages 10 and up

98 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2012

About the author

Alyssa B. Cole started writing at an early age and has never quite stopped. She teaches in Minnesota.