Authors: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Publisher: Disney Editions
Year of Publication: 2006
Series: Peter and the Starcatchers
About the Book:
If you ever wondered how Peter Pan ended up in Neverland, how Hook lost his hand, how Tink came into being (laughing baby, not withstanding), then be prepared to find a comfy chair and dive into Peter and the Starcatchers.
A softer and lighter prequel (at least, compared to Capt. Hook: adventures of a notorious youth) to Peter Pan, orphan Peter and his band of boys are taken aboard the ship Never Land to be sent off as servants for an evil king. The Never Land is also holding mysterious cargo, a strange trunk whose magical contents is only known to Molly, one of the passengers aboard the ship. In pursuit of the cargo is the pirate Black Stache, whose character is strangely familiar. Filled with magic, sea battles and shipwrecks, Dave Barry explores the origin story of Peter and his Lost Boys, and how they got to Neverland.
A fast-paced, fun, if sometimes slightly absurd (Molly speaks Porpoise...really.) pirate adventure, this story is a great re-imagining of the Peter Pan mythos while still paying respect to the original. Barry's writing is humourous and witty, with plenty of small shoutouts and references to the original Barrie story, and his characters well fleshed out. Peter is very much in character of the original, if a bit more likable. New character and female lead Molly Aster is despite being the token female, brave, intelligent and a bit stubborn, and gets her own share of the action. She can also speak Porpoise.
The magic elements of the plot can be a bit of a stretch (one word, Porpoise), but overall it is a very fun book which has an engaging narrative that makes it very hard to put down. A popular novel, it is also the first of the Peter and the Starcatchers series, which so far spans four books.
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