Zazoo

Thirteen-year-old Zazoo, a Vietnamese orphan, has always felt one hundred percent French, raised as she was by an old Frenchman named Grand-Pierre in a stone mill on the banks of a French canal and speaking nothing but French. In an English language audiobook, it can be a tricky matter to imply another language, yet Joanna Wyatt manages im-peccably. The cast of ZAZOO comes to exotic life with inflection, timing, and subtle variations in pronunciation. Zazoo's melodious accent lends a foreign air to all, while Juliet, Zazoo's passionate and enthusiastic best friend, stands in sharp contrast. Grand-Pierre's love and bewilderment intertwine to create a memorable character whose past is riddled with dark secrets. Add to the appealing cast of characters the lyrical poems charmingly recited throughout, and this audiobook is a heart-stealer. T.B. 2003 YALSA Selection (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

June 28, 2004
Set on a French canal, this novel stars a Vietnamese-born girl who excavates secrets from when the Nazis invaded France. "Readers will be swept away by the evocative images and emotive scenes in this story, offering a mix of bitter and sweet," wrote PW
in a starred review. Ages 13-up. (June)

Note:
Additional reviews of children's books can be found in the Children's Religion section (p. 48).