Customer Reviews

After the Rain: A New Adventure for Peter Pan. 2nd edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well I must say, I don't know what happened here. Just about everything went haywire from page one. In an attempt to be creative, the author, J.E. Somma, has destroyed a few of Barrie's original ideas, and the result is a very poor chapter book that really deserves no stars at all.

It starts out with Peter's backstory, where he is fishing with his father in Hyde Park. After being sent to his room for refusal to eat brussels sprouts, Peter overhears Mr. and Mrs. 'Pan' talking about what he is to be when he grows up. (I have to interject here - the author missed the point, Peter is called Pan after the god of nature, describing Peter's status. It is not Peter's actual surname.) Peter apparently already knows Tinker Bell, and she lures him to Neverland with the promise "You will never grow up!" Once Peter arrives in Neverland, he takes control of the island, marking a sign with a crayon that says 'No Adults Allowed'. A brief backstory is given about his exchange with Wendy Darling. This is all okay, but, according to Somma, you DO grow up in Neverland, just very slowly.

Which is why Peter is thirteen, a TEENAGER, when he returns to the mainland. He is completely and ridiculously naive about modern technology. (Ms. Somma, Peter is not a caveman.) He feels resentful, believing everyone has forgotten him. So he puts a curse on magic, draining fantasy from the earth and causing things such as the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy to become trapped in a sort of between-world prison.

While all this is going on, our twelve-year-old heroine Crystal has bigger problems to worry about. Her parents are divorced, she's worried about making the swim team at school, and one night, after having a particularly strange dream, she sees someone sneaking around her house. She and her friends plan to catch the criminal on tape - imagine when they discover it is Peter Pan himself.

Needless to say, Crystal is just the next girl to have a crush on Peter; therefore, she and her friends Buddy and Jason help Peter survive modern life. They teach him about television and food processors and dress him in modern clothes, but Peter can't even figure out how to work the shower and he's nearly caught. Eventually, Peter's magic curse begins to work against him. Now Peter and Crystal must release the world's magic before it is too late.

I am not kidding, it is almost like the author watched a few Peter Pan movies and decided to write her own sequel. Very few things stay true to the original novel, and the book wasn't even well-written enough to compensate. The cover was okay (on the 2nd edition), but the inside illustrations weren't - they're abstract and almost ugly.

By the way, after all this J.E. Somma did not even pay royalties to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital for the copyright to Peter Pan. Shame on you.

There is just no reason to buy this book. (On the same note, I would not even attempt Karen Wallace's 'Wendy', which has Wendy Darling growing up in an abusive household, and that's just in poor taste....) If you are looking for a nice sequel, try "Peter Pan in Scarlet", which is at least well-written and officially commissioned by GOSH.

P.S. Check out the other Peter Pan-related reviews by Tinkerbell III!

I really enjoy books about fairy tales and My aunt got me "After the Rain..." I read it in a couple nights. It was really good... I really like the part where Peter makes a new fairy named Oliver... There were lots of other neat things that happen and I think that if you like to escape to imaginary places in books you'll like where this book takes you!

Peter Pan is specifically mentioned in UK copyright law; it never goes out of copyright there, and royalties go to some random hospital. In the rest of the world, it's in the public domain. That's why Somma could write this book.

Health care in the UK is funded by the UK government. Some morons here think that the rest of the world ought to subsidise the UK taxpayer because of this bizarre law. I see no reason why I would want to do this. If I want to help children, I'll give money to Oxfam. Perhaps that's what Somma does.

At any rate, I am only rating this book a 5 to counter out all the people who gave it one star for bogus copyright reasons.

J.M. Barrie granted the copyright for Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital in order to fundraise for sick children. While the copyright does not extend to Canada or the US, even Disney Corporation felt that they should pay GOSH for using Peter Pan. Ms.Somma maintains Peter Pan in now in the public domain and while she maybe right, she should still send them some of the proceeds from her book.