When Callie McCallan agrees to interview the rock and roll band Brass Rat for her school newspaper, she never imagines that she might be getting herself into an adventure born out of a centuries-old mystery. But for a band that’s been around since her parents were young, the members of Brass Rat don’t seem to look their age. And why is it so essential that they be paid immediately following the major gig they do for Northampton, Massachusetts? And why, or how, do all the town’s children vanish shortly after Brass Rat gets stiffed on their fee? The answers lie in the distant past, and in another world altogether, and in order to save her friends, family, and the other children of the town, Callie will venture into the land of Faerie itself for a showdown with an immortal king and his wayward son.

Obviously, Pay the Piper is a riff on the Pied Piper story, there’s no denying that. But by tying the Piper in with other tales, including the realm of Faerie and the Children’s Crusade, Yolen and Stemple manage to infuse a new, and logical, freshness into the familiar fairy tale. This is a fun, quick book that moves along at a brisk pace, alternating between the past and present to tell the full story of a young man who gambled everything, lost, and now has to pay a terrible price to maintain his immortality, and the story of a young woman who really just wanted to go to a concert. Stemple, an accomplished rock and roll musician in his own right (as part of bands such as Cats Laughing, Boiled in Lead, and The Tim Malloys) helps to provide the lyrics for Brass Rat’s songs; I’d love to hear them actually performed. Happily, this is just the first in a series of “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fairy Tales” planned out by Yolen and Stemple, and I’m looking forward to future offerings. I’m a sucker for fairy tales retold in the modern world, and this one’s definitely a keeper. By all means, check it out.