Here comes the Adam Stemple fan club again.

Pay the Piper is the first of Adam Stemple/Jane Yolen's collaborative rock n roll influenced modern retellings of fairy tales.

As you might guess from the title, this one is based around an ex prince of faery who gets himself exiled. Every seven years he has to pay a teind of either gold or human souls. On a day when the prince, now a rock n roll star in the band Brass Rat, is without money in a small New England town, Cassie, the main character, is caught up in his attempt to pay a teind with the children who came to see his concert.

Cassie was believable in her grumblings about her hippie family. Her quick wits save the day, and her crush on another band member is very believable.

There were some horrific details in this book (child ghosts and a river of blood) that give it just that right frisson of terror for kids.

Recommended, but mostly for youth, not for adults.