Ridley Pearson, Dave Barry's Peter Not Quite So Charming As Original

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

With my son completing his first decade of life, we've now entered the stage where he is as likely to introduce books to me as I am to him.

Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry's Peter and the Starcatchers is one of those books that I'd planned to read before my son did. However, he snatched it up and was on the third book in the series before I finally got around to reading the first one. He raved about them, ranking them right up there in his experience with Harry Potter.

After finally reading it, I've come to accept that my son is much more the target audience than I am. Some of this is due to the fact that I read it mere days after listening to J.M. Barrie's version of Peter Pan on CD. There was such charm and delight in the original that comparisons are inevitable.

Pearson and Barry's Peter is a far different creature than Barrie's Peter. The latter is carefree, heartless, and possessing a very short memory. The former is a streetwise orphan who still gives his heart away to other vulnerable children.

In Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Lost Boys have just been sold from their British orphanage to a ship's captain that is going to take them off to a land called Rundoon in the new world. Before the ship, christened Never Land, ever leaves dock, he encounters two things that will change his life: a girl named Molly and a mysterious chest that strangely affects everyone who touches it.

From there the story goes on to include all those elements you would expect from a Peter Pan story: pirates, ship battles, mermaids, "savages," crocodiles, and boys who can fly. What makes Peter and the Starcatchers a distinct story from the Barrie stories (they call themselves "prequels"), is in their explanation for all of these things. The book starts out with a pretty gritty, realistic feel; not a book in which you would expect the fantastical. The only hint at fantasy is the well-guarded trunk that everyone wants to get their hands on.

It is the contents of the trunk that ultimately explain all of the changes. It provides a metamorphosis for Peter, the island, and the residents of both land and sea.

Pearson and Barry are clever in their explanations and the elements of the Peter Pan story that they draw upon. Even Tinkerbell makes an appearance, but not until much later in the tale, and her introduction almost seems a little forced. However, most elements are fun to watch as those familiar with the tale can see the inspiration. We meet the man that will become Captain Hook, and there is little doubt that at some point, he's going to lose his hand to a crocodile.

It is perhaps for the best that my son read the book first, because if I had, I might have hesitated to recommend it to him. The story is soaked heavily in violence with the pirates being truly despicable creatures. In fact, only a few of the adults are at all trustworthy. One might almost think that one was in a Dickens novel. Ultimately, though, the violence has its place and does help establish a moral imperative of why people must do what they do. Nor is the violence any greater than what is found in the original story where the pirates and the Lost Boys casually kill each other as if it were merely a boy's game with toy soldiers.

While the mystery of the starcatchers was a fascinating one, the book was at its best when it was on the ship. Once they reach the island that would become Neverland, things start to get a little convoluted. Pearson and Barry took a page from the Star Wars trilogy with scenes switching among multiple battles and plot lines so quickly that it becomes difficult to care about any of them.

The highlight of the island portion of the book is when the Englishmen meet the tribe of "redskins" or, as they term them, "savages." The two authors have great fun blowing up stereotypical assumptions with an exasperated tribal leader who challenges them as to who the real savages are.

I wouldn't rank Peter and the Starcatchers as one of the greats of children's literature, but in this case, I find it most important to note that I am not a pre-adolescent boy. My mileage differs from my son. To me, the read was mildly entertaining with enough clever bits to make me smile. If I happened to come across the next two books in the library, I might check them out. To my son, these are books to grab off the shelf the minute they are released and to savor through many re-readings.

-- B. Redman