Pay the Piper: A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale

by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

Book Overview

A rock 'n' roll band to die for? Callie is about to find out... . Not much happens in fourteen-year-old Callie McCallan's sleepy Massachusetts town. So when the famous rock 'n' roll band, Brass Rat, schedules a concert in the Valley, it's big news. As a reporter for her school paper, Callie scores the scoop of a lifetime - a backstage pass to interview the lead singer of Brass Rat! Her friends are so jealous. But Callie isn't sure what the fuss is...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765311585
• ISBN13: 9780765311580
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 10 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 5 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Pay The Piper

Pay the Piper Book Review Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple When I first picked up this fairy tale book, I was unsure about how good it would be. I thought it was going to be a really corny story where a band was made up of crazy mythical characters. Now, having read the book, I would say that I'd give it four stars out of five. The book is about a fourteen-year old girl named Calcephony McCallan (everyone just calls her Callie though). She is a rather unimaginative reporter for her school. Since she lives in a small town, she is really surprised and delighted when she learns that one of her favorite bands "Brass Rat" is going to play a concert there on the day before Halloween. Even though she has really strict and embarrassing parents, she manages to convince them to not only get her tickets, but a backstage pass to interview the band for the school newspaper as well. After the concert is over Callie realizes there's some questions she forgot to ask the band during intermission. However, before she opens the door to the green room, she hears the band members having an argument about some sort of teind. Then, the next day, all of the children (except for Callie) disappear. She already has a hypothesis of who is responsible for this deed, but now she must figure out why they did it and how to get the kids back. This book reminds me of a great story for all ages I read a couple of years back. It was called The Phantom Tollbooth. They are related in the sense that they both have a main character who doesn't have an imagination and is sent to a magical land and must learn to think "outside the box" in order to overcome a challenge and be allowed to return to their home. There are a few reasons why I enjoyed reading this book. First, I love the authors' style of writing. Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple were very descriptive. Also, I am obsessed with music, so I like any story that has to do with that (except for when the music is jazz). Finally, I took pleasure in reading this tome because it involves part of a myth. The only reason I gave it four instead of five stars is because it took longer than usual for the plot to develop. Other than that, I think it is a fabulous book and I highly recommend it to people who love fairy tales because it has an unusual twist.

Pay up, or else

Fantasy and rock'n'roll go together. Led Zeppelin's songs about Middle-Earth, really bad metal bands with fantasy names, and even those cheesy fantasies about punk elves playing electric guitar. But "Pay the Piper: A Rock and Roll Fairy Tale," a new novel published by Starscape Books (known mainly for reprints) is something a bit different. The first of a series by Jane Yolen and her rocker son Adam Stemple, this is a more intricate, intelligent rock fantasy. Well written, intriguingly thought out, Yolen's latest collaboration is definitely worth reading. Classic folk-rockers ("rock'n'reel") Brass Rat are coming to Callie's hometown. Even better, she's the only one with a press pass, allowing her to go backstage and interview the band, especially the eerie, melancholy frontman Peter Gringras. But after she hears strange arguments about being paid -- in gold and silver -- Callie begins to suspect that the band is made up of people who aren't really human. Then on Halloween, all the kids go missing, except for Callie. She goes in search of her brother and the other children, with the help of Brass Rat's guitarist Scott. On the borders of Faerie, Cally learns that Gringras was exiled to mortal lands, for a deception that went horribly wrong. To save him -- and all the kids -- she has to work out the curse that was laid by the king of Faerie. Giving a new twist to fairy tales is nothing new. But Yolen takes the basic idea of the Pied Piper, and crafts an elaborate story around it, full of curses, rivalry, friendship, death and spells. There's even a "songbook" at the back of it, and despite the lack of actual musical notes, you can make up some folky-rocky melodies. And the writers are in fine form here. Yolen and Stemple really craft a solid setting, with a minimalist Faerieland full of lost kids, and a homey New England town where nothing happens. Not to mention a rock concert that may give you goosebumps. But there are some humorous moments, such as Callie encountering the "little princes" in Faerie. Though Callie is the heroine of this novel, Gringras is the character who stands out. He committed a deceptive crime that snowballed into murder, and now has to pay "gold, silver or souls" in order to stay alive. He feels rotten about it, but is afraid to stop. Equally compelling is Alabas, his immortal bandmate who will do whatever he must to help Gringras. A really good rock concert can be hypnotic, even if most urban fantasy can't capture it. But Yolen and Stemple do a brilliant job in "Pay the Piper," with its mix of fantasy and rock'n'roll.

Pay up!

Fantasy and rock'n'roll go together. Led Zeppelin's songs about Middle-Earth, really bad metal bands with fantasy names, and even those cheesy fantasies about punk elves playing electric guitar. But "Pay the Piper: A Rock and Roll Fairy Tale" is something a bit different. The first of a series by Jane Yolen and her rocker son Adam Stemple, this is a more intricate, intelligent rock fantasy. Well written, intriguingly thought out, Yolen's latest collaboration is definitely worth reading. Classic folk-rockers ("rock'n'reel") Brass Rat are coming to Callie's hometown. Even better, she's the only one with a press pass, allowing her to go backstage and interview the band, especially the eerie, melancholy frontman Peter Gringras. But after she hears strange arguments about being paid -- in gold and silver -- Callie begins to suspect that the band is made up of people who aren't really human. Then on Halloween, all the kids go missing, except for Callie. She goes in search of her brother and the other children, with the help of Brass Rat's guitarist Scott. On the borders of Faerie, Cally learns that Gringras was exiled to mortal lands, for a deception that went horribly wrong. To save him -- and all the kids -- she has to work out the curse that was laid by the king of Faerie. Giving a new twist to fairy tales is nothing new. But Yolen takes the basic idea of the Pied Piper, and crafts an elaborate story around it, full of curses, rivalry, friendship, death and spells. There's even a "songbook" at the back of it, and despite the lack of actual musical notes, you can make up some folky-rocky melodies. And the writers are in fine form here. Yolen and Stemple really craft a solid setting, with a minimalist Faerieland full of lost kids, and a homey New England town where nothing happens. Not to mention a rock concert that may give you goosebumps. But there are some humorous moments, such as Callie encountering the "little princes" in Faerie. Though Callie is the heroine of this novel, Gringras is the character who stands out. He committed a crime that snowballed, and now has to pay "gold silver or souls" in order to stay alive. He feels rotten about it, but is afraid to stop. Equally compelling is Alabas, his immortal bandmate who will do whatever he must to help Gringras. A really good rock concert can be hypnotic, even if most urban fantasy can't capture it. But Yolen and Stemple do a brilliant job in "Pay the Piper," which

A Fun Addition to Modern Fairy Tales

I would highly recomend this book to anyone--teenager or adult--who enjoys reading about modern Faerie/Fairy. If you like Charles De Lint, Terri Windling, Emma Bull, or Midori Snyder you'll like this book. The book is a quick, fun read. My husband and I each devoured it in just over one day, and I know that I will read it again someday. Why not five stars? At times the writing gets a little clunky (my guess is that these are Adam Stemple's bits), not terrible, they just seem like the work of someone about to really hit their stride. This is a book I will buy for my adult, pre-teen, and teen friends.

fine version of the Pied Piper

Fourteen-year-old Calcephony "Callie" McCallan is a school reporter school in Northampton, Massachusetts. She is excited by her job because this assignment enables her to go back stage while the popular rock 'n' roll band, Brass Rat performs. The only setback is that her parents make her bring her brother Nick with her. After listening to a recording by the group, Callie wonders why her classmates ate making such a fuss over this band. That is she wonders until she meets the dynamic lead singer Peter Gringras. His flute playing mesmerizes all who listen including Callie. However, on Halloween night as the Brass Rat performs, all the children including her kid brother Nick vanish. Callie thinks she knows why the children have been "abducted" and plans to rescue them as she plans to follow the magic flute into the land of faerie to make the piper pay, but she will soon learn how "faerie justice" works. The middle school crowd will enjoy this fine version of the Pied Piper starring a wonderful young heroine who risks her life to save her sibling and the other children from the unknown. As the audience learns the truth, feelings towards Peter the Pied Piper will change although he still committed the abductions. Young readers will enjoy the first rock and roll fairy tale while looking forward to future fantasies from this solid mother-son collaboration. Harriet Klausner