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

In this new twist on The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a banished prince of Faerie has formed a folk rock band to earn the gold and silver he needs to buy off a curse he incurred by murdering his brother. When a promoter stiffs him, Prince Gringras turns to his third option for payment: leading children into Faerie, where their human souls can power the land of the Ever Fair. Although he succeeded in Hamelin and in other lesser-known locales, Gringras gets more than he can handle when he lures a group of trick-or-treaters that includes a high school reporter's little brother. Motivated first by the prospect of a great story, and later by fear for her brother, Callie follows Gringras into Faerie and undoes the curse that compels him to steal children away. The modern pacing and idiom of the scenes featuring Callie's goofy, upbeat family and friends make for a jarring contrast with the formal language used for the dark thoughts and actions of the exiled prince, and lengthy descriptions of Gringras's rock and reel band run the risk of alienating teens whose musical tastes favor other genres. However, these shortcomings won't deter readers who like a fast-paced Faerie tale, especially if they enjoyed Holly Black's Tithe. --Beth Wright, School Library Journal