Great success leads to better clubs and eventually back to America, where both Freddie and the dybbuk come to a mutual understanding upon finding the ex-Nazi in question. Freddie’s refusal, then reluctance, soon turns to dependence as the dybbuk’s voices for the act make Freddie appear as a magical ventriloquist, never moving his lips and even drinking water during the act. Sweet revenge is the mission and Avrom intends on achieving it through Freddie’s body and voice as he takes over the puppet act in order to publicly search for his murderer in each new city they play. Avrom, not yet 13, was brutally murdered by a Nazi bounty hunter. Freddie becomes possessed by a dybbuk (the Jewish ghost of a boy, Avrom Amos, with an unfinished mission). In post-WWII Europe, The Great Freddie, an American gentile who is a mediocre ventriloquist, performs in clubs around the continent. Amidst the plethora of mostly depressing Holocaust children’s and YA literature, Fleischman introduces an ingenious approach to the topic and issues.
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