Peter and the Starcatchers [BARGAIN PRICE] (Hardcover)

by Dave Barry (Author), Ridley Pearson (Author) "THE TIRED OLD CARRIAGE, pulled by two tired old horses, rumbled onto the wharf, its creaky wheels bumpety-bumping on the uneven planks, waking Peter from..." (more)
Key Phrases: older savage, other mermaids, crockery pot, Little Richard, Black Stache, Fighting Prawn (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Humorist Dave Barry and suspense writer Ridley Pearson have clearly taken great delight in writing a 400-plus page prequel of sorts to Scottish dramatist J.M. Barrie's beloved Peter Pan stories. The result is a fast-paced and fluffy pirate adventure, complete with talking porpoises, stinky rogues, possible cannibals, a flying crocodile, biting mermaids, and a much-sought-after trunk full of magical glowing green "starstuff." Ever hear of Zeus? Michelangelo? Attila the Hun? According to 14-year-old Molly Aster they all derived their powers from starstuff that occasionally falls to Earth from the heavens. On Earth, it is the Starcatchers' job to rush to the scene and collect the starstuff before it falls into the hands of the Others who use its myriad powers for evil.

On board the ship Never Land, an orange-haired boy named Peter, the leader of a group of orphaned boys being sent off to work as servants in King Zarboff the Third's court, is puzzled by his shipmate Molly's fantastical story of starstuff, but it inextricably binds him to her. Peter vows to help his new, very pretty friend Molly (a Starcatcher's apprentice) keep a mysterious trunk full of the stuff out of the clutches of the pirate Black Stache, a host of other interested parties, and ultimately King Zarboff the Third.

The downright goofy, modern 8-year-old boy humor sometimes clashes with an old-time pirate sensibility, and the rapid-fire dialogue, while well paced, is far from inventive. Still, the high-seas hijinks and desert-island shenanigans will keep readers turning the pages. Greg Call's wonderful black-and-white illustrations are deliciously old-fashioned and add plenty of atmosphere to a silly, swashbuckling story that shows us how Peter Pan came to fly and why he, and his story, will never get old. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9–This prequel to Peter Pan refers as much to the 1953 animated Disney film as to J. M. Barrie's original play and novel. The early chapters introduce the archetypal antagonists: Peter, leader of a group of orphan boys being sent into slavery aboard the Never Land, and Black Stache, a fearsome pirate who commands a villainous crew. New characters include Molly Aster and her father. Molly, at 14, is an apprentice Starcatcher, a secret society formed to keep evildoers from obtaining "starstuff," magic material that falls to earth and conveys happiness, power, increased intelligence, and the ability to fly. Inevitably, the ships wreck off a tropical island and a trunk of starstuff is temporarily lost. Here, readers meet more familiar characters: the mermaids in their lagoon; the indigenous people who live in the jungle (modern versions of Barrie's redskins); and, of course, the crocodile. The authors plait multiple story lines together in short, fast-moving chapters, with the growing friendship between Molly and Peter at the narrative's emotional center. Capitalizing on familiar material, this adventure is carefully crafted to set the stage for Peter's later exploits. This smoothly written page-turner just might send readers back to the original.–Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• ISBN-10: 0786854456
• ASIN: B000BBS9CE
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (226 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #500,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling New Fiction for All Ages, August 26, 2004

By	Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Peter and the Starcatchers (Hardcover)

Fourteen-year-old Peter is an orphan who doesn't exactly know how old he truly is, just like he doesn't know his last name. So when St. Norbert's Home for Wayward Boys places him aboard a ship called The Never Land, along with four of his mates, on a trip to an island ruled by the evil King Zarboff, where they will be forced to serve as slaves, Peter doesn't know exactly what to think. But when he meets up with fourteen-year-old Molly Aster, a rich passenger, traveling with her governess Mrs. Bumbrake, mysterious things begin happening. For instance, Molly can speak to porpoises, and she's hiding information about the strange trunk located in a holding cell upon The Never Land. Information about the magic, and mystery, that the trunk is holding inside. But when the notorious Black Stache learns about the treasure, the passengers upon The Never Land are in for a lot of trouble. Trouble that leads them all to fight with pirates, and become stranded on a desert island.

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have created an absolutely amazing re-telling of PETER PAN. Peter is an exciting character who is kind, and fun, while at the same time intelligent, even though he hasn't received any formal education. Molly, on the other hand, is brave and hard-headed, and will appeal greatly to female readers, as she possesses true girl power, which shines through in every page that she appears in. Readers who enjoyed the recent movie PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN will adore the character of Black Stache, as he puts the mean into PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS, what with his nasty attitude, and vicious orders. Overall this is an amazing adventure story that will be enjoyed by male and female readers of all ages, whether they are a fan of the original story of PETER PAN or not.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent beginning for the Peter Pan saga, September 16, 2004

By	Blake Petit "Novelist, Comixtreme.com columni... (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Peter and the Starcatchers (Hardcover)

I've always liked the basic Peter Pan story, but was never as big a fan as I am of other classics like L. Frank Baum's "Oz" books, so ordinarily a prequel wouldn't necessarily interest me, but with Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson writing this, I absolutely had to give it a chance. This unlikely collaboration turns out one of the best fantasy novels I've read in quite some time.

Like all great "children's" fantasy, the book is written on a level that's wonderfully accessible for kids but never condescends and alienates older readers. Our hero, Peter, is an orphan who is being whisked away across the ocean for purposes unknown. Aboard his ship is a mysterious trunk and a mysterious girl who seems to know a lot about it. The trunk is highly sought after, and a Peter finds a pirate ship hot on their trail.

Each of these writers bring something to the table -- Pearson's talent for writing the fantastic and Barry's sharp comedic wit combine to tell an excellent story that I enjoyed so much I'm anxious to go back and rediscover the original J.M. Barrie novel, just to see how many dots I can connect.

The book fills in a lot of the blanks for the original "Peter Pan," and one could easily read this and then leap to the original with no further bridges, however Barry and Pearson supposedly have two more "prequel" novels in the works. I'll definitely be in line to read them.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good children's book maybe, a prequel it ain't, October 5, 2004

By	J. Hawke "seshenu" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peter and the Starcatchers (Hardcover)

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's "Peter and the Starcatchers" may provide good fodder for childhood reading, but beware if you are looking for a true prequel to J. M. Barrie's masterpiece "Peter Pan." Barry and Pearson have certainly capitalized on Barrie's original characters, but they have not at all written a prequel.

True, the plot of an orphaned Peter Pan and friends fighting to keep a magic substance that enables flight out of the hands of the villainous Black Stache (soon to become a famous one-handed pirate) and his crew is a lively and highly marketable choice for a children's book -- but J. M. Barrie took care of the "Peter Pan" prequel with his much more artfully written and intriguing "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens." This is a good point at which to start a critique of Barry and Pearson's so-called "prequel."

Clearly, and unfortunately, neither Barry nor Pearson seem to have done their homework where a prequel is concerned. The most glaring example is that we are presented not with Barrie's Peter Pan, who breathes more quickly because it is said in Neverland that every breath kills a grownup, but rather with a Peter Pan who insists that he is the oldest of his friends. Peter's conflicts with Black Stache and others do not provide enough of an explanation for the hatred of growing up that he has in the original novel.

We're given a teenage sidekick for Peter, a girl named Molly. Needless to say, Barrie's Peter would have been horrified by anyone around him who was growing up -- which is exactly what a teenager is in the process of doing.

We're told that fairies and fairy dust are not the products of magic, so fondly described in Barrie's works, but rather are derived from some kind of science fictionish chemical substance.

Black Stache, who is Barry and Pearson's answer to "how did Peter Pan meet Captain Hook," speaks like a common sailor, his dialog replete with "ain't" and double negatives -- yet Barrie tells us in his novel that Hook attended Eton College, was most eloquent, and possessed "a touch of the feminine," hardly the sort of man who belts out grammatical errors in conversation.

In response to those who believe that a prequel in keeping with the material in Barrie's original works would be "BORING," I say: (1) not in the hands of a skilled author, and (2) if Barrie's original material is so boring, then why are so many capitializing on it?

If you're looking for fluff to read, by all means pick up this latest offering. If you're looking for the real Peter Pan, however, go back to Barrie's original, and much more brilliant, material -- and enjoy!