About the Author Ridley Pearson is the best-selling co-author of Peter and the Starcatchers and Peter and the Shadow Thieves. He is also the author of fourteen novels, including Cut and Run, The Middle of Nowhere, The Pied Piper, Beyond Recognition, No Witnesses, The First Victim, Undercurrents, and Parallel Lies. He was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University. In addition, he secretly wrote The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, which was a companion book to the ABC-TV production of Stephen King's Rose Red. Greg Call studied graphic design at the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver. After graduating in 1983, he worked as an Art Director at the Colorado Institute of Art until the desire to do more illustrative work found him in Pasadena, California, attending The Art Center College of Design. Upon graduation in 1988, he began working freelance for clients in music, entertainment, and publishing. Greg has been recognized for his work repeatedly, including awards from the Society of Illustrators and Addy awards among others.
K**Y
Book review
This is really a amazing book. I love all the different Peter pan books,where Peter has more adventure but this one sets up the original story. It a story of how Peter becomes Peter pan. It's amazing LOVED IT
M**E
Five Stars
My son aged 7 loves this book ordered some more in the series
C**L
If you are a Peter Pan fan, this is for you :) I want more :)
My Thoughts - 4 out of 5 Unicorns - I really liked it!!!I got this audio book the SYNC summer program.The cover is definitely very Peter Pan, and I think it will attract any Peter Pan fans to read it.I listened to this book in the car with my son to and from school. My son really enjoyed this book and wants to listen to the rest of the series if I can afford to get them in the future :)Peter and Molly are awesome lead characters. I loved all the adventures that they had. All the details and Peter Pan references was awesome. This really was a long book too!! I was amazed how long it was and how many chapters were in this story. This book had a mission, flying, pirates, mermaids, a wrecked ship, giant storm, fighting, talking porpoises, and so much more.If you have seen Peter Pan and liked it, you need to read this book because you will definitely like it. This is a fabulous book to read with your son, and it is for all ages, but probably more for middle grade readers.
M**S
Setting Up the Peter Pan Legend
Peter is an orphan living in the late 1800's in London. One day, he and four friends are put on a ship heading for a strange country. When they arrive, they are to serve an unpleasant king, a king who executes all those who displease him. And the voyage there will be unpleasant with gross "food" and cramped quarters.On the ship, Peter meets Molly, a girl about his own age. She is hiding a secret involving a giant chest that was brought on board at the last moment. A chest that has attracted the attention of the dread pirate Black Stache. What is the secret of the chest? Can the children protect it from those seeking it?With as much as I love Peter Pan, I've been meaning to get to this book for a while now. Obviously, I should have gotten to it sooner because I really enjoyed it. The action moved quickly from one exciting event to another. The pages just flew by, making the large book seem shorter than it is. The authors use multiple view points to fully tell the story. Most of the time it works, but it does get a bit annoying in the final quarter. We switch points of view too much.Since this is a prequel to the Peter Pan legend, I got a kick seeing how many of the familiar elements fall into place. Honestly, if they hadn't written any more books, we could easily stop here. Everything is in place. I especially liked Peter's character. I must admit I am most familiar with the Disney movie version, where the character is a bit arrogant and self absorbed. Here, he is a conscientious, caring boy. I like this characterization much more.Those looking for a fantasy adventure need look no further than this exciting book. I will definitely be buying the rest in the series and reading them soon.
T**O
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
It's always interesting, at least to me, to read a book that is the retelling of a beloved childhood tale. Whether it be a retold fairy tale such as Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, or a classic such as Peter Pan, these new spins on old stories usually fall into one of two categories--terribly bad remakes, or truly amazing, imaginative stories with new twists. Thankfully, authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have turned PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS into the latter.In this rendering, Peter is an orphan about the ship Never Land. He's become the leader of sorts to the other young orphans who have been sold into slavery to King Zarboff the Third, evil ruler of Rundoon. Not long after Peter and his boys board the boat, he meets Molly Aster. The fourteen-year old daughter of the new Ambassador of Rundoon is unlike any other girl Peter has ever met. Actually, the only other girl he remembers seeing in a very long time was the daughter of the Headmaster of St. Norbert's Home for Wayward Boys.Peter's increasing infatuation with Molly is challenged when she lets him in on a secret--she is an apprentice Starcatcher, one who guards the magical starstuff from the Others who would use it to do harm. Starstuff is magic that, when it falls to Earth, it brings about increased intelligence, happiness, and even the ability to fly. Although Peter is, at first, quite skeptical of Molly and her Starcatcher business, he soon learns that she's being nothing but truthful.Add to the story the dreaded Pirate Black Stache and the evil pirate crew of the ship the Sea Devil, and you have an interesting story. Throw in the a shipwreck, a missing cargo of starstuff, mermaids, a flying crocodile, and island dwellers that just may be cannibals, and the story goes from interesting to amazing. This is a remarkable retelling, or possibly even a prequel, to the well known story of Peter Pan. Kudos to both Mr. Barry and Mr. Pearson for a highly entertaining and thoroughly engrossing read![...]
T**I
Fantastic!
I picked this book up out of a box of children's books at work just for something to read and I was gripped from the very beginning. This is a brilliant book from beginning to end. It tells the story of Peter Pan before he became the Peter Pan read about in the classic book. It delves deeper into the background of the character coming up with reasons for why Peter can fly, why he has Tink, why he doesn't grow any older....It's a truly good read and I'm looking forward to the next one.
N**A
Fantasy explained through science fiction
Don't get me wrong. I like this book. In what concerns adventure and action, it's very good. But trying to explain the fantasy of Neverland and Peter Pan through Science Fiction wasn't the best way to explain things. The authors take all the imagination and childlike dreaming out of the equation through the use of the so called Starstuff. It makes people and objects fly, creates strange beings...but how, for instance do you explain fairy-dust? And the way J.M. Barrie tells of the beggining of Fairies? Peter is unable to grow? Barrie tells that he chooses not to, rather than being forced into it. Don't bring Neverland into Reality, mr. Dave Barry. You'll take the best part out of it.
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