**INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - A wildly original, fantastical adventure of
love and heartbreak--and an animated movie, Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock
Heart--that takes us from Edinburgh to Paris to Andalusia to tell the
story of a boy who discovers the great joys and ultimately the greater
costs, of owning a fully formed heart.
**
Edinburgh, 1874. Born with a frozen heart, Jack is near death when his
mother abandons him to the care of Dr. Madeleine--witch doctor, midwife,
protector of orphans--who saves Jack by placing a cuckoo clock in his
chest. And it is in her orphanage that Jack grows up among tear-filled
flasks, eggs containing memories, and a man with a musical spine.
As Jack gets older, Dr. Madeleine warns him that his heart is too
fragile for strong emotions: he must never, ever fall in love. And, of
course, this is exactly what he does: on his tenth birthday and with
head-over-heels abandon. The object of his ardor is Miss Acacia--a
bespectacled young street performer with a soul-stirring voice. But now
Jack's life is doubly at risk--his heart is in danger and so is his
safety after he injures the school bully in a fight for the affections
of the beautiful singer.