Zazoo by Richard Mosher is a
bittersweet young adult novel about the long-term effects of war. In this first-person
narrative, a young Vietnamese girl raised in France discovers
life, love, and womanhood through her relationship with her adopted
grandfather, the town pharmacist, and a mysterious “bicycle boy.”

Zazoo
is set in contemporary France. Thirteen-year
old Zazoo was raised as a
typical French girl, although she is a Vietnamese orphan adopted by Grand-Pierre
after her parents were killed when she was two-years old. Grand-Pierre and Zazoo live in an isolated stone mill
nicknamed the “mill of a thousand tears” and together they oversee the
operation of a canal lock, but
at 78-year-old and with failing memory, Grand-Pierre is no longer
capable of caring for Zazoo, the lock, or even himself.  Zazoo has gradually been forced to become the
adult in the family. As the
novel opens, it is fall and Marius, a mysterious
16-year old boy has arrived at the old mill on his bicycle. Zazoo becomes
instantly infatuated with him, but as they speak, Zazoo becomes suspicious
about the prying questions he asks about the personal life of Monsieur Klein, the
village pharmacist. Her suspicion turns to joyful expectation when he promises to
return “soon”. At the prompting of Marius, Zazoo begins to dig into Monsieur
Klein’s private life and inadvertently uncovers Grand-Pierre past in what he
calls the "Awful
Time" (WWII). “Soon”
however, turns into weeks, but eventually a postcard arrives at the pharmacy
for Zazoo. A correspondence begins between Zazoo and Marius who lives in Paris
with his grandmother. Meanwhile, Zazoo is becoming more and more concerned
about Grand-Pierre’s increasing forgetfulness and fits of angry frustration. Complicating
matters is the loss of Zazoo’s only friend, Juliette. When
Zazoo over hears the town gossip hint that Juliette is adopted, Zazoo sees it
as a psychic bond between her and her friend, but  Juliette does not view adoption in the same way, ending their
friendships with hurtful words about Zazoo’s ancestry. Left alone with only Grand-Pierre
to talk to, Zazoo
digs deeper into Grand-Pierre’s past and discovers the secret of his relationship
to the town and Mr. Klein. As Zazoo explores the past she
unwittingly brings about healing and reconciliation 50-years overdue.

Zazoo
is not an easy story to read (or in my case, to listen to). It is filled with
horrendous details of, to borrow an expression, “man’s inhumanity to man.” War has
destroyed the lives of Grand-Pierre and Mr. Klein leaving them walking wounded
in a prison of their own making. Prejudices and events that occurred during WWII
continue to shatter the lives of Grand-Pierre and Mr. Klein, while Zazoo is
only beginning to understand the impact of prejudice and emerging childhood
memory (“Mama go boom? Daddy go boom?”) from a different war upon her own life.

As stated above, Zazoo is not a cheery read. The historic
events described are cruel and violent. The long-term impact of these
remembered events is painful however more shattering than recalled memory to
this story is the loss of memory. Grand-Pierre’s loss of memory (Alzheimer’s
Disease?) and his ability to function normally has forced young Zazoo to grow
up fast in order to become Grand-Pierre’s caretaker. In order to communicate
with Grand-Pierre, Zazoo must resort to the use of poetry and symbolic language
"a
sad gray cat", “an old gray owl” to connect with Grand-Pierre and piece
together his puzzling past.

“Richard Mosher was born in India and
raised in upstate New York. When he was fifteen, he spent the year attending a
French boarding school and hitchhiking around Europe during vacations. A
graduate of Antioch College, Mr. Mosher is the author of one previous novel for
young people, The Taxi Navigator (1996). He now lives with his wife in
St. Paul, Minnesota.”

The unabridged
audiobook, read by Joanna Wyatt, of Zazoo was named to the Young
Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 2003 Selected List of Audiobooks for
Young Adults. “Joanna Wyatt is a former
singer and performer with Mini Pops. Wyatt also had a starring role on the
British television series Luna in the 1980s.  In addition, Wyatt
continues to be active in theatre in England, and she has also lent her voice
to a number of children’s audiobooks.” Wyatt does an incredible job narrating each character with an
appropriate voice that details the character’s gender, age, and racial
background.

Zazoo
by Richard Mosher
is a sad yet engrossing tale filled with little mysteries. Like an onion, as each layer is peeled away,
the story becomes more intense and brings more tears to the eye. I cannot say
that I “enjoyed” listening to this novel, but I am happy that I did. I
recommended that younger readers read this work under the guidance of an adult
and that older readers be given the opportunity to express their feelings and
reacts to the work. This book is rated “Ages 12-up”. I do recommend it.

© 2003 Su Terry

Link: Publisher’s
Web Page for Audiobook

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at
Dowling College, Long Island, NY. Interests in Mental Health: She is interested
in the interplay between psychology, biology, and mysticism. Her current area of
research is in the impact of hormonal fluctuation in female Christian mystics.

Categories: Children