"Peter and the Starcatchers" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

I’m going to keep this short.

Though I love J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” very much, I only became interested in reading Barry & Pearson’s prequel, “Peter and the Starcatchers,” after seeing the segment from the Broadway cast of the stage adaptation on the 2012 Tony Awards.  The show cleaned up at the awards, and the book is equally lauded.

Because it’s great.

I seriously cannot wait for my son to get old enough to know the story of “Peter Pan” so I can read this to him.  Reading it as an adult, it’s a little simple — but I’m not the target audience, and it was easy to put myself in the shoes of those the pages are aimed at.  From that viewpoint, the book is a complete and totally magical win.

It’s a prequel, in which a normal orphan boy named Peter gets sent on a ship, encounters a mysterious girl and pirates, then has to save all his friends and a magical trunk from falling into the wrong hands.  This is pre-Darling children, but many of the familiar characters of NeverLand are present.

It’s a splendid romp that young people will devour, I’m sure.

 

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