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When Callie interviews the band, Brass Rat, for her school newspaper, her feelings are ambivalent, but when all the children of Northampton begin to disappear on Halloween, she knows where the dangerous search must begin.Tags
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Slim but likable fantasy from a master of newfangled fairy tales and her musician son. Yolen and Stemple do a good job with their original take on the Pied Piper tale (I particularly like that they came up with various songs to go with the band), though I would love to see them revisit this and do an even longer version that would develop the characters and their world a little more.
A modern re-telling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin that mixes the world of fairy with our own putting a new twist on an old story. Calliehas strict parents and is sure she will never be able to convince them to let her go and see ouring rock band Brass Rat. She manages to get a backstage pass to write an article on the band for her school magazine and it turns out her parents are actually fans of the band too. So Callie goes with her parents and annoying younger brother in tow. She overhears an arguement and some things she can't explain raising her suspicions of the band who seem to have been around a lot longer than their looks and physical ages imply.
The next night is Halloween and Callie stays home to write her article while everyone show more else is out trick or treating. Her parents rush home to find Callie is the only child left in the whole town. Callie starts to put the peices together and realises that the flute player from the band is the Pied Piper and as he was not able to colelct his money for the concert he has taken the souls of the children instead. She must now try to find a way to bring them all back, break an ancient curse and find her lost brother.
Lots of fun, Jane Yolen and her son Adam Stemple make a great writing team. They even included full song lyrics of Brass Rats songs at the end. I really liked Callie and like all the best fairy tales there is a bitter sweet ending and not quite a happily ever after for everyone concerned. I will definitely be reading Troll Bridge by the authors soon. show less
The next night is Halloween and Callie stays home to write her article while everyone show more else is out trick or treating. Her parents rush home to find Callie is the only child left in the whole town. Callie starts to put the peices together and realises that the flute player from the band is the Pied Piper and as he was not able to colelct his money for the concert he has taken the souls of the children instead. She must now try to find a way to bring them all back, break an ancient curse and find her lost brother.
Lots of fun, Jane Yolen and her son Adam Stemple make a great writing team. They even included full song lyrics of Brass Rats songs at the end. I really liked Callie and like all the best fairy tales there is a bitter sweet ending and not quite a happily ever after for everyone concerned. I will definitely be reading Troll Bridge by the authors soon. show less
This book was an all right read, not as well done as the following book, Troll Bridge. You have a young girl who gets to see the famous band Brass Rat, and gets permission to interview them for her school paper. It turns out that yes, the band is headed by the Pied Piper of legend, who must pay a tithe of gold or souls to Faire each year on All Hallow's Eve. When the promoter welshes on paying the band, they take all the children trick or treating to pay the tithe. Except for Callie, who suspected them all along, after accidentally eavesdropping on them the night of the concert. She's aided by one of the band members, and follows the Piper to try a rescue. What made this book a 'meh' read? The tone varied too much. The writer does an show more excellent job of writing the Piper, his history, why he does what he does. The tone is dark, and rightly so. Then she's thrown in Callie, and her goofy family. The book would have been much better as a straight grim tale, instead of grim with lighthearted thrown in. The following book Troll Bridge had seriousness mixed with the humor, but the tone was more consistent and less jarring. Jane Yolen is an excellent author, but this isn't one of her best. show less
Not a bad idea for a YA, but the execution is not great. Characters are introduced and more or less dropped, plot resolved too easily and too quickly, characters behaving oddly (parents) and we know what's going to happen. It's not a horrible book, but read next to the other winners of the Locus Young Adult award, it doesn't quite measure up.
I wanted to like this modern fantasy more than I did. This is often the case when I read Jane Yolen. Pied Piper of Hamelin retold. I think she spent too much time working out the rather complicated plot and not enough on the characters.
A teen novel based on the legends of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. In a contemporary setting, a young girl is excited to interview a touring folk-rock band for her school paper - but she accidentally uncovers more than she meant to - a plot leading straight to the courts of Faerie.
I felt like it was a little bit out-of-touch-with-kids-today. (How many highschool students you know are fanatic about old folk-rock bands?)
But strangley, I was reading this out at a cafe and the waiter was like, "Oh, I loved that book!
I felt like it was a little bit out-of-touch-with-kids-today. (How many highschool students you know are fanatic about old folk-rock bands?)
But strangley, I was reading this out at a cafe and the waiter was like, "Oh, I loved that book!
Callie discovers that the lead sing of a famous rock band, Brass Rat, is really the Pied Piper, and has to rescue all of the children in her town from being spirited away.
A modern day tale of the Pied Piper this story will have you bopping along to the music as you are slowly drawn into a story of murder, deception, redemption and hope.
A modern day tale of the Pied Piper this story will have you bopping along to the music as you are slowly drawn into a story of murder, deception, redemption and hope.
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Pied Piper retellings
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Author Information
656+ Works 103,721 Members
Jane Yolen was born February 11, 1939 in New York City. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1960 and a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts in 1976. After college, she became an editor in New York City and wrote during her lunch break. She sold her first children's book, Pirates in Petticoats, at the show more age of 22. Since then, she has written over 300 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her other works include the Emperor and the Kite, Owl Moon, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and The Devil's Arithmetic. She has won numerous awards including the Kerlan Award, the Regina Medal, the Keene State Children's Literature Award, the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Is a retelling of
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Pay the Piper
- Original publication date
- 2005-07
- People/Characters
- Calcephony McCallan; Peter Gringras
- Important places
- Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
- Important events
- Halloween
- Epigraph
- Come away, O human child! /
To the waters and the wild /
With a faery, hand in hand, /
For the world's more full of weeping /
Than you can understand.
---William Butler Yeats - Dedication
- For big David, forever ---J.Y.
For Alison and wee David,
fey children I am proud to call my own
---A.S. - First words
- The piper caught sight of the river long before the sound of running water reached his ears or the salt smell of blood struck his nose.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then, as the sun set on another warm spring day in Faerie, he marched back to his father's castle, his one true friend and a horde of ghostly children following close behind.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Tween, Kids, Fantasy, Teen, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 458 — Language Italian, Romanian & related languages Standard Italian usage (Prescriptive linguistics)
- LCC
- PZ7 .Y78 .P — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 263
- Popularity
- 122,427
- Reviews
- 11
- Rating
- (3.24)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 2
