Magrs, Paul. The good, the bat, and the ugly.

Magrs, Paul. The good, the bat, and the ugly. Atheneum, 2004 [0-689-87019-1]
Let me start out with ... yes, the author's name is spelled correctly! Here we have a cross of a British sitcom and Daniel Pinkwater. Twenty years ago Jason's dad, Frank, was a famous TV puppeteer (with a bat puppet) but Frank ended his career by having a big fight with his puppet on the air. Now Frank wants to give Jason a puppet for Christmas but Jason hears the packed away bat puppet calling him. Frank goes crazy one day at a store, destroying all the puppets in a window display. We enter the crazy world of TV puppets who seem to be more in control then the puppeteers. Suddenly puppets are getting murdered (or destroyed.) Who is doing it? Why does Frank's puppet bat talk to Jason? If you have readers with a warped sense of humor they will like this 247 page book. Just one note: There is dark magic at the end of the book when we find out that early in his career, Frank sold his soul to the Devil to make his puppet talk. The devil appears at the end of the book (in the form of Punch of Punch and Judy fame.)