Loading...
2nd out of 10 books
—
4 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Zazoo
Zazoo is Vietnamese by birth but feels entirely French. She has lived with her adoptive Grand-Pierre in France in an old stone mill between the river and the canal since she was two, sharing poetry, adventures, and the predictable rhythms of the seasons. Then one misty October morning, a young man on a bicycle rides into Zazoos small village and asks a question from which ...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
June 7th 2004
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 2001)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
358)
If its raining hard outside, and your looking for a warm tale to curl up with, look no further. Easily one of the best books i have ever read, I recomend that everone at least tries this book, although if you are not a big reader, you may have difficulty staying focused.
This book would appeal to readers of romance expecially, though it is not limited to them.
This book would appeal to readers of romance expecially, though it is not limited to them.
Set in the French country side, a Vietnamese-born French girl lives at a lock house with her adopted grandfather, a WWII hero who loves poetry. When a young Parisian appears one morning his questions prompt the girl to start asking questions about her own past, as well as the past of the villagers. Through metaphors and poems the grandfather tells the story of war and sadness, as his health and memory decline.
I thoroughly enjoyed and liked the characters in this story about growing ...more
I thoroughly enjoyed and liked the characters in this story about growing ...more
Miss Starling
rated it
Recommends it for:
Anyone
Recommended to Miss by:
Browsing in the library
Shelves:
historical,
young-adult
This book really gripped me with its story right from the beginning. I was only ten when I was engrossed, too guys. The story about this girl and her relationship with her Grand-Pierre is a sweet one that anyone with a grandparent, whether living with them or not, can relate too when he starts to shows signs of being senile. I enjoyed her blossoming friendship with Marius, a boy she meets at the beginning. The insinuations of romance are only sprinkles, which is great, and doesn't overshadow the...more
Jennie
added it
Age: YA
Genre: Realistic fiction
Diversity: Ethnicity, religion
Illustrations: None
Personal Response: I thought this was an incredibly beautiful and moving story. As Zazoo, an adopted Vietnamese French teenager, slowly discovers the history of her village and her Grand Pierre during WWII she uncovers life changing secrets. At the same time Zazoo is dealing with the typical teenage problems associated with body image and first love. Sweet and sad at...more
Genre: Realistic fiction
Diversity: Ethnicity, religion
Illustrations: None
Personal Response: I thought this was an incredibly beautiful and moving story. As Zazoo, an adopted Vietnamese French teenager, slowly discovers the history of her village and her Grand Pierre during WWII she uncovers life changing secrets. At the same time Zazoo is dealing with the typical teenage problems associated with body image and first love. Sweet and sad at...more
The writing is richly evocative, redolent of time and place. History, emotion, and true love wound around the truths of things. I realize this doesn't describe it much, but it is one of the best YA titles ever.
view 1 comment
In what was a fifty cent find at a thrift store, I found a lovely treasure written with tenderness and infused with poetry. When I picked up the oddly named Zazoo, I had no idea what story lay between its covers, the description on the back failed give a clear idea of what I was to encounter. But considering my tastes, I shouldn’t have been too surprised to find Zazoo’s modern day tale wrapped around the heart of World War II.
Set in approximately 1990, in small village in the north o...more
Set in approximately 1990, in small village in the north o...more
Short and sweet. The image of the canal flows right off the page and sticks with you. I loved this story.
I thought this was one of the most gorgeous YAs of its year.
Poetic Zazoo is Vietnamese, and she lives in France with her adoptive grandfather. She discovers that her grandfather and the house tha she lived in had an interesting past, which the local pharmasist tells her about. The pharmasist, whom Zazoo eventually calls Uncle Felix, was a Jew during the war. Zazoo learns of the love between her grandfather and Monsieur Klein's (Uncle Felix) sister, and then her death. Zazoo also finds that she falls in love, and her best friend turned downright mean. She...more
Lucy
rated it
Recommends it for:
people who like strong ya, people who like historical novels
Shelves:
kidlit
Thirteen-year-old Zazoo is an orphaned Vietnamese girl who lives on the quiet banks of a French canal with her elderly adoptive Grand-Pierre. Her life is peaceful, marked only by worries about her increasingly aged and beloved grandfather. One day, her life is disturbed by a seemingly chance encounter with a boy on a bicycle who asks questions that lead Zazoo to start to question her grandfather's past. What happened to him during World War II, which he calls the Awful Time? And why do the villa...more
As I read this book, I wondered why it was classified as "juvenile" at my public library. The story would definitely appeal to teens...the characters, the storyline, the wonderful use of words. Since it's been designated as "juvenile" at my library, I'm disappointed to know that there are so many who will never read this sweet book about a young girl's story of life with her grandfather...next to a lock in France.
Although I appreciated the atmosphere of this story, the description of the countryside and the coming-of-age of the sweet young protagonist, one major part was never satisfactorily explained in my opinion. Zazoo was adopted from Vietnam by an elderly French man who was a friend of her family. I understand that quite a few orphans were adopted abroad in the wake of the Vietnam War, but it seems unlikely to me that Zazoo's Grand-Pierre would have been considered a good candidate for an adoptive p...more
A wonderful book, especially for a YA book...the story of a young Korean girl adopted by an older French man soon after the Korean war...she lives with him on a canal and he is her "grandfather". It is a story of young love, of coming of age, of learning that people are human, and of forgiveness. A beautifully written, wonderful little, fast read!
I started off not really liking this book, but then I got to know the characters, mainly Zazoo, a thoughtful, young woman from Vietnam brought up by her adoptive grandfather, a kind French man who has become family to her, then I loved it by the end. There's a sweet, simple romance, thoughts of the past during WWII, and reconciliations.
This book is witty and captures this soft slightly sad candor that most books lack.I adored this book! The main charecter, Zazoo, a girl from Vietnam lives in France with her adoptive "Grandfather". When a odd boy shows up by her home and begins to questions about her villages pharmiacist long ago stories of love and war are revealed. I reccomend this book to anyone (especially girls, though).
This was an interesting story. It's a hard one to describe because it was hard to tell where the author was going with the characters. Not knowing where he was going kept me wanting to find out more and kept me reading. (It's not exactly a mystery novel, but the point of the story wasn't clear until close to the end of the book.) I thought it was well written but left me wanting more background and details about the characters. At least it had a happy ending.
lovely little book about love, family, and what war does to people. Zazoo is a girl living in France, adopted from Vietnam. She learns of her grandfather's past and learns about love at the same time. Geared toward teens, but good for adults as well.
This is one of my favorites. Zazoo is a Vietnamese orphan raised in France, sharing a quiet, poetic, close-to-nature life with Grand-Pierre, who adopted her. When a strange boy arrives on a bicycle and talks to her, asking only, "Why isn't the town pharmacist married?" a door is opened within her. In investigating this simple question, Zazoo becomes very curious about the Awful Time that Grand-Pierre won't speak of (when the Nazis invaded France), and the history of her own parents, wh...more
I thought this was a wonderful book! Although it was the story of Zazoo coming of age, it also dealt with the results of war, pride, friendship, lost love and old age. Very lovely writing and the poems were a beautiful addition.
Interesting, but slow plot developement. Left you wanting to know more and why things happened. Some knowledge of history helpful to make the book more meaningful. Not a faced paced drama, but a thoughtful read.
It's set in the French countryside, which alone is enough to read it. Add in some tasty food, a cute boy crush, and a very elderly grandfather, and it's the perfect book!
This was such a sweet book. I remember reading it over and over again. I can still remember the description of her grandfather perfectly peeling a fruit.
For a YF book, "Zazoo" was amazingly philosophical, compassionate, charming, tender, bitter-sweet --- beautifully written. A very nice coming of age book.
I don't know why this book moved me so much but I checked it out from the library and read it, then immediately went and bought it and read it again!
Zazoo lives in France with her adopted Grandpiere. Nice look a life in France and the relationships that sustain us. And, how to live with grief.
Amazing book, very descriptive one of my favorite books since I first read it in 7th or 8th grade. It's good for a short read.
I kind of want to read this over and over. The narration has this impossibly romantic sensibility while refusing to take itself too seriously. It's just so FRENCH!
I would not recommend this book. It dragged, it was boring and it would make you so sleepy.
Bittersweet; I would have liked it better if the main character had been a bit older.
Beautiful cover. Beautiful story. The plot was a little slow, but other than that I really enjoyed the small poems, bits of history, and message that was woven throughout the story. This book was very well written and thought through.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
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. He now lives with his wife in St. Paul, Minnesota.
More about Richard Mosher...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
