He was supposed to say, 'You're my Bitsiest bestiest friend, ' but every time he got to that 'bestiest' part, his mouth jammed open and his little pink tongue slipped out the side. He looked so human I couldn't believe it. It was like he was gagging on it or something. Telly Mercer is shy and quiet, used to living in the shadow of her older sister, Bess. Then she finds herself on the set of a puppet show, staying out of the way of her overstressed aunt Kathleen. One evening she makes a surprising discovery that launches her on an adventure with an unpredictable and angry puppet. The Puppet Wrangler is funny and fast-paced and set against the fascinating backdrop of the television industry, a world that the author, Gemini-winning Vicki Grant, knows well. She is the writer and producer of Scoop and Doozie, a TV puppet show. Jim Rankin was one of the puppeteers on the show. "Between takes," Vicki says, "Jim's puppet 'Doozie' would carry on conversations with the crew, conversations that showed a whole different side of the little orange bulldozer. Very funny, but definitely not pre-school material. Bitsie owes a huge debt of gratitude to Jim Rankin." The Puppet Wrangler is Vicki's first novel.