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A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale #1
Pay the Piper
A rock 'n' roll band to die for . . .
When fourteen-year-old Callie McCallan scores a backstage pass to interview the lead singer of the famous band Brass Rat, she's thrilled. Peter Gringras is so cool. When he plays his flute, it's as if he has some kind of hypnotic power. But there is something strange about him, something Callie can't quite put her finger on. Then, on Halloween night, Callie's little brother Nicky disappears, along with all the other children in town. It's crazy, but Callie thinks she knows where the children have gone--and who took them. To prove it, and to rescue Nicky and the other children, Callie must journey to a mythical world filled with fantastical creatures. A world from which there may be no return . . .
When fourteen-year-old Callie McCallan scores a backstage pass to interview the lead singer of the famous band Brass Rat, she's thrilled. Peter Gringras is so cool. When he plays his flute, it's as if he has some kind of hypnotic power. But there is something strange about him, something Callie can't quite put her finger on. Then, on Halloween night, Callie's little brother Nicky disappears, along with all the other children in town. It's crazy, but Callie thinks she knows where the children have gone--and who took them. To prove it, and to rescue Nicky and the other children, Callie must journey to a mythical world filled with fantastical creatures. A world from which there may be no return . . .
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2005
554 people want to read
About the author
Jane Yolen
971 books3,230 followersJane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
January 20, 2014
Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my LOCUS Y-A list.
I think I’ll always have a soft-spot for imaginative young-adult speculative fiction and as the good people at Locus did such a grand job with picking their Sci-Fi winners, I’ll trust them to single out some special y-a books too.
Ugh. How did Pay the Piper ever win a Locus award? 2006 cannot have been a great year for YA books!
It’s not a ‘bad’ book, but it very, very ‘OK’.
American, teenage girl, blah blah blah, quirky name, blah blah blah, a rock/folk band retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, blah blah blah, fairy politics, blah blah... snrk? Did I drift off there for a minute?
Look – I’m not terribly good at writing negative reviews – I like books and I appreciate the effort put an author puts into telling a story. Because I’ve been working my way through award winners for the last couple of years, I’ve become somewhat spoilt. I expect the crème de la crème. Instead... I got vanilla yoghurt. Nothing wrong with vanilla yoghurt, but I’ve never deliberately bought it.
There are two halves to this story worth discussing – the concept and the execution. The fantasy concept isn’t too bad really. Who was the Piper? Why did he lead all those kids into the mountain? What’s his backstory? What if he was still around? So we’ve got an immortal fairy prince, banished to the mortal world for killing his brother, forced to pay a tithe of gold or souls every seven years or become mortal himself. Because of his innate fairy gift for music, his bounced about over the centuries, trying to scratch-up enough cash to pay the tithe or, as a last resort (when he’s broke) stealing children. Nice guy, real likeable, huh?
In the modern era he’s the frontman for a folk/rock band – playing flute and singing (at the same time?) and writing songs which are all about himself and his plight, because he’s self-absorbed, arrogant prick like that. So the band do a gig, the night before they have to pay the tithe, and it’s the last paycheque they need to raise enough to pay the fairy king. But the damn fools didn’t read the fine print – it’s a charity gig and they ain’t getting paid. And you know what The Mask says – can’t make the scene if you ain’t got the green – so they’re forced to steal the children instead.
The Piper makes out like he hates taking children and, woe is me, he feels much, much guilt. But this sympathy shuttle’s never-ever gonna fly. How irresponsible do you get, to leave it until the night before the bill is due before you fill the piggy-bank? And to not check the contract on a charity gig under those circumstances? And then there’s the alternative – take the hit on the chin, pay the price yourself and become mortal yourself? Nope. Okay, so I’m totally cheering your corner in your quest to beat the Fairy King’s curse and get back home to fairyland, you brother-murdering twat.
Which puts all of the empathy-burdon on our heroine, the bright as button, quirky little fourteen year old, Callie. She must be quirky, right? Because she has a quirky name? And her siblings (Mars and Nicolodeon) have even quirkier names – so this must be one hell of a kooky family? Except it’s not; it’s boring. She’s boring. Her teeny-bopper chitter-chatter with her buddies is annoying as hell. And her family are just so annoying! *petulant foot stamp and pout* And gosh-darn it, it’s just so hard to write a review of a gig when you overheard the band talking about tithes and stuff! Let’s have a strop, huh? She’s immature (if you haven’t gathered).
When I was fourteen I was going to xxxxx with my xxxxx and xxxing her... actually that’s a little too much personal detail for this review – but let’s just say my real life was considerably more gnarly at that age than that of Callie and her picket-fence crew. If I’d met Callie then, we wouldn’t have been friends. The girl is sheltered, conventional, hasn’t got a drop of alternative attitude in her constitution (despite the rock and roll allusions of the series) and this story doesn’t exactly push her out of her comfort zone. She just sort of doddles along and solves the conundrum at the end.
So an annoying child breaks a fairy curse and lets a murdering child-thief go home.
Happy ever after.
Barf...
If you want to read an excellent story of fairies playing rock and roll - read War for the Oaks by Emma Bull - that is everything that Pay the Piper should be.
If you want to read an excellent modern, re-imagining of the Piper (with drum'n'bass instead of rock) read King Rat by China Mieville.
Save your time, skip Pay the Piper .
After this I read: I Shall Wear Midnight
August 6, 2013
Not bad. I would have loved this ten years ago, but I think it's one of those children's books that doesn't really transcend to adults that well. very quick read with some lovely creative quirks.
August 11, 2020
Disappointed.
How could fairies, the pied piper of Hamelin, & rock 'n' roll be less than titillating. It is. The imagery of rats is overly done. The characters flat. The story threads separated, not cohesive. Sorry I wasted my time.
How could fairies, the pied piper of Hamelin, & rock 'n' roll be less than titillating. It is. The imagery of rats is overly done. The characters flat. The story threads separated, not cohesive. Sorry I wasted my time.
December 21, 2008
This was a riveting extension of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, grounding the story in the exile of a Faerie murderer who owes a tithe to his father every seven years: "Silver, gold, or human souls." Modern-day Callie, doing a story on the folk rock band Brass Rat for her high school paper, discovers that two of its members are exiled Fae with dangerous intent. Somehow she has to turn what she knows into a way to save the kids of her town, including her little brother, when they vanish while trick-or-treating the next night--Halloween.
June 27, 2011
I had picked up this book in one of my usual library raids amongst a stack of other fairytale books. I was actually really excited for it because of the whole, "a rock'n'roll' fairytale" aspect thinking it would be similar to one of my favorite books, War for the Oaks, also a fantasy book revolving around rock'n'roll. And a modern retelling of an old story always has its possible upsides, especially since this one was about the Pied Piper, certainly a tale that has yet to be overdone. But my enthusiasm for the book was soon quashed.
While it has a lot of potential to be something good, the writing is nothing special, the story too one-dimensional and the characters no one to care about. My biggest qualm was the main character, fourteen-year-old Callie, written to be a stereotypical, embarrassed-of-her-family teenager whose dialogue and attitude is more that of a nine-year-old rather than a freshman in high school. I'm not sure which of the authors was most in charge of her but, whichever one, they highly underestimate the intelligence of young teenagers and write them to be far more ignorant than any I know. Without a main character I can get interested in, it's very hard for me to care about the rest of the story.
Now, whoever wrote the fairy-side of the story was pretty good. The writing was well done, the characters far more interesting and the story well-developed. But it just wasn't expanded upon enough. There's potential for a really good story. But the caliber of the authors didn't really seem strong enough to handle it. Instead, the book was short and admittedly weak. Not enough time was spent in the fairy world versus the real world and I just couldn't find myself invested in the story in the least.
This certainly isn't a bad book. I've definitely read worse. But, there's really nothing special about it at all aside from the very initial idea. That's not to say that it shouldn't be read; I mean, it makes a good enough children's book, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone older than maybe... eleven. But I don't expect this to make its way into many readers' list of favorite books.
While it has a lot of potential to be something good, the writing is nothing special, the story too one-dimensional and the characters no one to care about. My biggest qualm was the main character, fourteen-year-old Callie, written to be a stereotypical, embarrassed-of-her-family teenager whose dialogue and attitude is more that of a nine-year-old rather than a freshman in high school. I'm not sure which of the authors was most in charge of her but, whichever one, they highly underestimate the intelligence of young teenagers and write them to be far more ignorant than any I know. Without a main character I can get interested in, it's very hard for me to care about the rest of the story.
Now, whoever wrote the fairy-side of the story was pretty good. The writing was well done, the characters far more interesting and the story well-developed. But it just wasn't expanded upon enough. There's potential for a really good story. But the caliber of the authors didn't really seem strong enough to handle it. Instead, the book was short and admittedly weak. Not enough time was spent in the fairy world versus the real world and I just couldn't find myself invested in the story in the least.
This certainly isn't a bad book. I've definitely read worse. But, there's really nothing special about it at all aside from the very initial idea. That's not to say that it shouldn't be read; I mean, it makes a good enough children's book, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone older than maybe... eleven. But I don't expect this to make its way into many readers' list of favorite books.
April 18, 2011
I only got about 30 or 40 pages in. This was terrible. Honestly, it was terrible. The characters are cardboard and unbelievable, and my God, the dialogue! I have never in my life heard children that speak like this! I was actually sitting there flailing around angrily at how stiff and inexplicably unbelievable the dialogue was, yelling "HAVE YOU EVEN EVER SPOKEN TO A TEENAGER." Plus, a whole high school all excited about a folk rock band with a medieval schtick coming to town? Idk, maybe there are places where that would happen, and I've just never encountered it, but I found it hard to believe. (Let's not even get into how embarrassing I found that first rock show scene. I gave up soon after that.)
I was surprised by how awful this was, considering I've read a couple of Yolen's works before and thought them pretty decent.
I was surprised by how awful this was, considering I've read a couple of Yolen's works before and thought them pretty decent.
June 6, 2011
I was very disappointed with this book. Usually Jane Yolen writes fabulous tales, but Pay the Piper just didn't keep me interested. The story was flat, the characters wooden and the ending a little too obvious.
The main thing that annoyed me was the constant defining of "difficult words". Yes, I understand the authors were trying to help their younger readers, but it really detracted from the flow of the story. A glossary in the back would do just as well. Or even a well written sentence explaining the word. I don't need the Websters dictionary definition!
The main thing that annoyed me was the constant defining of "difficult words". Yes, I understand the authors were trying to help their younger readers, but it really detracted from the flow of the story. A glossary in the back would do just as well. Or even a well written sentence explaining the word. I don't need the Websters dictionary definition!
September 29, 2013
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!
July 15, 2016
Good consistent story with historical connections; the idea of a modern day pied piper ala Ian Anderson makes for a fun read. The wording was a little rough in places, but nothing an edit pass or a little rewording wouldn't fix. Fairly short chapters, made for good bedtime chapter book reading.
Read with daughter, 12, who received the added opportunity to look up a few archaic and obscure words.
Read with daughter, 12, who received the added opportunity to look up a few archaic and obscure words.
November 21, 2007
I really enjoyed this book, maybe because it was a short, quick read. I thought the premise was fun and the characters were quirky. I've not read a lot of Yolen's work (and what I have is the Children's lit not YA) so I can't say how it compares to other books, but I would certainly read more after this one.
August 26, 2008
Jane Yolen, practically the Pied Piper herself of children's fantasy lit (but in a good way, ho ho) and her (adult) musician son have kickstarted a fun series with this first book. Turning classic fairy tale lore into modern day teen angst and mystery works well, and I think will find a wide audience.
October 5, 2010
Gosh, I wanted to like this, but it was just terrible. The writing was uneven and weird. The story didn't always quite make sense or hang together. The "rock 'n' roll" sections were just embarrassingly bad. Yowch. I flipped through to see what would happen, but it just got weirder and worse. An unfortunate offering from Yolen, who is usually So Very Good.
July 9, 2016
I'm beginning to think it's just impossible to write the experience of music and concerts in a way that doesn't seem contrived or overdone, and on top of that the dialogue of the parents and friends seemed overdone too. Still, beneath that the base story was a really interesting take on the Piper's tale and there were moments of beautifully evocative writing.
November 6, 2012
Pretty good. Nothing overly special and not bad. A quick, pleasant read. I liked how the faerie prince got his wish and how it didn't work out the way he expected. Nice twist. That's what saved the book from being boring or too pat.
July 2, 2016
Meh. This one was a little flat for me. Review will follow.
July 21, 2021
Here’s a story plucked out of history and retold centuries later, fused with new characters, a few new twists, and some fresh clever ideas.
But, at its core, it is still the Pied Piper. It tries to rise above that and the story telling style helps. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough to lift it from sinking under its own weight.
Callie is as strong a three dimensional character as Mars is a weak two dimensional one. While both tend to suffer a bit from overused cliches, Callie’s heart and honesty is both believable and enjoyable. She, not the piper, should have been the main character. The story may have unfolded in a more sincere manner; might have made for more suspense and intrigue.
The lyrics are wonderful and even though we the readers cannot hear the music, the lyrics paint the picture. Sadly, there isn’t enough music in the book; nicely blended along the way but never achieving the greatness the lyrics deserved.
Glad to have read this as I liked the other book I read by co-author Jane Yolen, but anyone looking to unravel the mysteries of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, I would recommend episode 24 of the podcast Lore, “A Stranger Among Us.”
But, at its core, it is still the Pied Piper. It tries to rise above that and the story telling style helps. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough to lift it from sinking under its own weight.
Callie is as strong a three dimensional character as Mars is a weak two dimensional one. While both tend to suffer a bit from overused cliches, Callie’s heart and honesty is both believable and enjoyable. She, not the piper, should have been the main character. The story may have unfolded in a more sincere manner; might have made for more suspense and intrigue.
The lyrics are wonderful and even though we the readers cannot hear the music, the lyrics paint the picture. Sadly, there isn’t enough music in the book; nicely blended along the way but never achieving the greatness the lyrics deserved.
Glad to have read this as I liked the other book I read by co-author Jane Yolen, but anyone looking to unravel the mysteries of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, I would recommend episode 24 of the podcast Lore, “A Stranger Among Us.”
August 22, 2019
Okay, look, Jane Yolen was one of my first loves when it came to books. She's written such a wide range of styles and levels and is basically amazing. I don't know if this one is so terrible because she cowrote it (I've never read anything by Stemple), or because they were trying to keep it short. Either way, this is a book that didn't need to be written, and I really don't want anything to do with the rest of this series...
The characters are dull and stereotypical. I could not stand Josee's way of speaking. The constant need to define every slightly larger word was demeaning, and even if this book is meant for HiLo teens, there is no reason to write to them in this way. It just wasn't good and couldn't hold my interest. That ending too, to have him be like, "oh, maybe we should go back to how it was" is just asinine. Disappointed I wasted the time on this.
The characters are dull and stereotypical. I could not stand Josee's way of speaking. The constant need to define every slightly larger word was demeaning, and even if this book is meant for HiLo teens, there is no reason to write to them in this way. It just wasn't good and couldn't hold my interest. That ending too, to have him be like, "oh, maybe we should go back to how it was" is just asinine. Disappointed I wasted the time on this.
December 7, 2023
Title: PaythePiper
Pages: 192
Author: Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
Copyright date: 2005
Publisher: Starscape
Genre: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780765350411
Price: $21.26 for hardcover and $5.96 for normal.
The book Paythepiper is about a 14 year old girl named Callie. Callie and her family go to a concert so she can interview the band members, but little did she know the band members weren't the people everyone thought they were. On halloween night every kid in North Hampton
Disappear and it is up to Callie and to save them going into a world where there might be no return.
Personally the book was not my favorite and I feel like many more things could have been added to the story to make this book more interesting.
The description I gave told you about the book without spoiling the ending or going too much into detail.
This book would be great for someone if you liked mystery because there are a lot of mysteries in this book.
✰✰✰ I personally would give this book a three star because to me this book wasn’t super interesting and fantasy books are not my favorite kind of books because of the non real stuff in the book.
I personally haven’t read anything like this book before so I can’t give any similar books like this but I can give you some mystery books. The first book I would recommend is “I Know Your Secret” by Daphne Bendis-Grab, also a book called “Three Days” by Donna Jo Napoli and it's about a girl getting kidnapped in France. The last book I would recommend is “That’s Not What Happened” by Kody Keplinger.
Pages: 192
Author: Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
Copyright date: 2005
Publisher: Starscape
Genre: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780765350411
Price: $21.26 for hardcover and $5.96 for normal.
The book Paythepiper is about a 14 year old girl named Callie. Callie and her family go to a concert so she can interview the band members, but little did she know the band members weren't the people everyone thought they were. On halloween night every kid in North Hampton
Disappear and it is up to Callie and to save them going into a world where there might be no return.
Personally the book was not my favorite and I feel like many more things could have been added to the story to make this book more interesting.
The description I gave told you about the book without spoiling the ending or going too much into detail.
This book would be great for someone if you liked mystery because there are a lot of mysteries in this book.
✰✰✰ I personally would give this book a three star because to me this book wasn’t super interesting and fantasy books are not my favorite kind of books because of the non real stuff in the book.
I personally haven’t read anything like this book before so I can’t give any similar books like this but I can give you some mystery books. The first book I would recommend is “I Know Your Secret” by Daphne Bendis-Grab, also a book called “Three Days” by Donna Jo Napoli and it's about a girl getting kidnapped in France. The last book I would recommend is “That’s Not What Happened” by Kody Keplinger.
July 15, 2018
"Pay the Piper" was an interesting book to say the least. It is about a girl named Callie who gets a backstage pass to a band that she really wants to see in concert. It is on Halloween night and come to find out the band is not what it seems to be...or who it seems to be. When Callie's younger brother goes she missing she goes on an adventure to find him. She learns a lot about faeries and myths and why they take children every Halloween.
I did not really like this book. When I read the back of it, I thought it sounded very interesting, but it was very confusing. I mostly did not enjoy the way the book was written. I wasn't impressed by the language used, but maybe a struggling reader would find it intriguing, especially if they like fantasy things.
I did not really like this book. When I read the back of it, I thought it sounded very interesting, but it was very confusing. I mostly did not enjoy the way the book was written. I wasn't impressed by the language used, but maybe a struggling reader would find it intriguing, especially if they like fantasy things.
February 15, 2023
High school reporter Callie goes to cover a rock concert around Halloween. Unknown to her there is a cursed fairy prince in the group who needs either gold or children to pay a debt. When the promoter stiffs the group, the fairy prince must resort to taking the children to Faerie. Callie's little brother is led to Faerie. Can Callie figure out a way to save her brother and the other children? Is there a way around the curse? This is a great mixing of the old and new. Mixing the legend of The Pied Piper and rock and roll. Callie is excellent. She is a typical teen. Callie is smart and is able to work out her problems. This book is for all ages.
December 13, 2021
An enjoyable enough retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, but nothing spectacular in the changes. In the current times, the Pied Piper is in a band - that seems to be not aging (there are some bands that are still touring that I sometimes wonder HOW?) - and I liked the addition of the faery aspect.
March 13, 2023
I felt like this book wasn’t fully formed. It seemed to take too long to get to the point, and when it finally did it was all rushed. Like, all of a sudden Callie was in a new world with creatures she never knew existed and solved a centuries old riddle in a matter of moments. It was just very okay.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2018
A fun and different take on the Pied Piper story. It works on all levels.
March 5, 2021
Surprisingly good for being a short story.
dnf
July 16, 202130 pages in. I can't stand her friends or how people talk or how she explains everything. Obviously it's for a younger audience.
November 20, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
December 5, 2022
Great story, and retelling of the Pied Piper!
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February 5, 2023Great choice for the Mass Center for The Book 2023 Reading Challenge -- February selection.
September 17, 2025
i honestly really liked it; i didn’t think i’d devour it that quickly. i didn’t realize callie was 14 till the end but regardless i really liked her. she said NO AGE GAP RELATIONSHIPS FOR ME.
December 19, 2025
it was good I think other people should read it
Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews