Zazoo

Rating:
Summary: Zazoo--Beautiful!
Review: "She swam like no one I had known,
this little girl of mine,
as if into a fish she'd grown---
all silver-finned and fine.
But when the surface glazed with ice
that sealed away her paradise
she couldn't bear my sage advice
on nature's sweet design,
and wept--like no one I had known---
this little girl of mine.

But then she slept in air so clear
that she could hardly help but hear
the sound of someone coasting near
along the bright divide.
When she awoke, two slender skates
sharp-edged for carving figure eights
lay winking in the sunlight by her side--
two glinting blades on midnight boots,
longing to be tried.

And now she flies, on nights so cold
the dry canal ice sounds too old
to creak and crack and barely hold
her blades from slipping through--
this under- and yes, over-water,
liveliest, by far, granddaughter
ever to have worn a skating shoe:
this loveliest,
no longer little
girl I call Zazoo."
_________

So is the story of Zazoo, a sweet, vietnamese orphan destined to uncover the buried histories of her small family and those interlinked with it. On the border between childhood and adulthood, this is not only Zazoo's story of growth, but of the maturity of those she loves as they come to terms with the horrific times of the past and as her unifying love binds them to each other.
When one stranger walks into Zazoo's life asking questions about those she has known from her childhood, she embarks on a quest to fill in the missing answers. As she tries to put the pieces of this puzzle together, a river of memories threatens to become unleased, suggesting that some things may be better left alone.
Zazoo is a very strong, magical and poetic story of the destructive and empowering element of love. Richard Mosher's style certainly expresses a lyrical and poetic movement with words, creating an exquisitely drawn setting and well-layered themes. One such passage I find exemplary in this:
"Up the river I rowed, by the light of the shrouded moon and the dim, distant streetlamps. Stroke after stroke, bending my back, glad to be pulling, pulling, bending my legs and pulling again with my mittened hands until I was warm top to toe except in some darker place I supposed must be my heart.
Since a rower sits facing the stern, it was good I knew the river's shallows and angles, the twists where its current was tricky. The moon was so wrapped in snowy clouds that I saw only vague shapes, and steered from old habit. Rowing was fine in the dark, in the falling snow. My boat didn't whisper hero or coward, Gestapo or Vietnam. It didn't whisper at all, only groaned with the pull of it's oars."
Short, but chock full of wonderful and complex concepts, Zazoo is well worth your time.
Recommend? Definitely.
Rating: G, Ages 8 and up for comprehension. Older readers may appreciate its complex beauty further.
Pages: 266 small pages with average to small text size.
When to read? On a rainy day, when you need a mood boost, or nearby a river. . .


Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story
Review: I am 15 and this story connected with me. After reading it I was so surprised that a man wrote it! Zazoo's voice is so true to that of a thirteen-year-old girl. The setting is romantic and the three love stories that progress throughout the novel are delicately put. I would reccomend this novel of love, sorrow, accepting differences, and healing the past to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Strange
Review: I got this book because of the cover, with many colors and a beautiful girl rowing her boat on water. But inside was completely different. The book was slow, boring, and unrealistic. The ending didn't seem complete, and most of the characters went undeveloped.

I thought this wa going to be a good book, so I kept reading throughout the boring and slow parts, hoping to myself that it would become more exciting, or something would happen. But I found that the boring parts never ended, and the book just dragged on.

So, don't read this book if your looking for an interesting one. Don't be seduced by the pretty cover. Remember, its the inside that counts.

Rating:
Summary: Sweet.
Review: If ever a story merited reading aloud it is "Zazoo," the poignant story of a young Vietnamese/French girl and her journey to self-understanding. Joanna Wyatt gives a touching performance as the voice of the narrator, 13-year-old Zazoo.

Born in Vietnam, Zazoo has lived most of her life in France, actually in Burgundy with her adoptive grandfather, Grand-Pierre. Her life is peaceful and serene; she has not questioned her past or Grand-Pierre's life before she came to live with him.

The tenor of her days changes when Marius, a 16-year-old French boy, bicycles into her small village. His queries lead Zazoo to think and to ask about the time when France was under the boot of the Nazis.

As multiple secrets are revealed we learn of a unique link between Marius and the village pharmacist. We also learn of Grand-Pierre's past, some of which he would not wish to be revealed.

"Zazoo," as it explores the years of war, is a rather painful story yet it is one buoyed by love, hope, and forgiveness.

- Gail Cooke

Rating:
Summary: A TOUCHING PERFORMANCE
Review: If ever a story merited reading aloud it is "Zazoo," the poignant story of a young Vietnamese/French girl and her journey to self-understanding. Joanna Wyatt gives a touching performance as the voice of the narrator, 13-year-old Zazoo.

Born in Vietnam, Zazoo has lived most of her life in France, actually in Burgundy with her adoptive grandfather, Grand-Pierre. Her life is peaceful and serene; she has not questioned her past or Grand-Pierre's life before she came to live with him.

The tenor of her days changes when Marius, a 16-year-old French boy, bicycles into her small village. His queries lead Zazoo to think and to ask about the time when France was under the boot of the Nazis.

As multiple secrets are revealed we learn of a unique link between Marius and the village pharmacist. We also learn of Grand-Pierre's past, some of which he would not wish to be revealed.

"Zazoo," as it explores the years of war, is a rather painful story yet it is one buoyed by love, hope, and forgiveness.

- Gail Cooke

Rating:
Summary: Zazoo is splendid!
Review: The novel Zazoo by Richard Mosheris a beautiful drama. a young girl named Zazoo who is originally fom Vietnam is currntly living in France. It is soon after World War 2 and the Vietnam war. Her parrents were killed after accidentily trigering a small bomb. Zazoo's adoptive parent "Grand Pier" has been taking care of her ever since. They live a simple and poetic life full of love. Then one day a young man named Marius visits the lake near Zazoos house. He asks Zazoo an intreeging question, from which many more unfold. Falling deeper, and deeper, Zazoo finds out more about life, love, war, and past then she could have ever imagined.
This book was highly enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the part when Marius and Zazoo were watching Grand Pier peel an apple. That scene was filled to the brim with sensory details. I also liked how the author incorporated actual French aspects. My favorite part was whan Zazoo first met Marius. I did not apreciate how in the prologue it makes you believe that their are actual gosts in this story.
I highly recomend "Zazzoo" to anyone ten and up. The style and charactors are so developed it would be a shame not to add it to your "To do..." list.

Rating:
Summary: A special book
Review: This is a beautiful book. I am an adult, not a teen, so I can't speak to the reviewer who said it was bad--though I think the fact that the author is a man does not mean he doesn't write well about girls. I think he does. It sure seems to me he can get very well inside a young woman's head. By the way, another reviewer said she was from Korea. She is from Vietnam, not Korea, and therein lies a beautiful part of the story. Mosher brings alive the experience of a Vietnamese girl growing up in a tiny French village. The setting is as much of a character as Zazoo and her Grand-Pierre and Marius and Felix Klein. The story is layered, with each story feeding into the others. I am very impressed and would recommend this book to teens and adults alike.

Rating:
Summary: Zazoo
Review: This was a touching and inspiring book about an adopted Vietnamese girl living with and elderly man in France. After meeting a boy named Marius, her past and the past of her close ones begin to unfold. I loved reading her poetry and trying to guess what really happened to her in the past.

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: Zazoo may be Vietnamese by birth but she has been raised French, and this is how she thinks of herself. Orphaned when she was very young, Zazoo has spent 12 of her 14 years living in a sleepy little village in France with her adoptive grandfather, Grand-Pierre. Zazoo and Grand-Pierre share many things and two great loves: poetry and sailing on the canal where they share duties as lock-keepers.

Early one October morning, while taking a swim, Zazoo meets Marius, an elusive bicyclist who asks questions about local pharmacist Monsieur Klein. Because Marius cannot stay for very long, Zazoo agrees to find out the answer for him. Zazoo starts to investigate Monsieur Klein, and along the way, many other questions arise. What did Grand-Pierre do during World War II? Why do the villagers treat him with respect mixed with fear? And what are the mysteries of Zazoo's own origins? Before the end of the book, Zazoo learns more about her adoptive grandfather and their little village than anyone ever would have guessed.

Sometimes the best books are the ones with slow pace storylines. This is the case with ZAZOO by Richard Mosher. Told through the eyes of its title character, Zazoo is a sweet, quiet story about war, love, and how time really can heal all things.

--- Reviewed by Kat, Reading Diva


Rating:
Summary: Zazoo shimmers!
Review: Zazoo, a 13 year old Vietnamese girl who has been adopted by an old French man (she calls her grandfather), sees a binocular boy, Maurice, riding a bike along the canal who stops and talks to her. Her subsequent long-distance relationship with Maurice changes her relationship with both her grandfather and Monsieur Klein, the pharmacist who provides the thyroid pills for her grandfather.
Zazoo's grandfather is reminiscent of the grandfather in Gentlehands by M. E. Kerr. Mosher, however, has woven a more intricate, delicate and rich plot around the threads of war and remembrance.
This poignant dual love story speaks of war and peace, friendship and silence, love, hate and forgiveness in a stirringly poetic manner. As a librarian I read numerous young adult novels each year. This is the finest I have read in a long time. Reading Zazoo is like eating an exquisitely prepared meal. A sheer delight!