Peter and the Starcatchers: Another Look at the Peter Pan Myth

In a recent article, I mentioned that every now and again, a story is written that seems to stop the world. We call these stories "classics," and they have a strange way of forcing themselves into our minds even into the twilight years. I recently reviewed The Looking Glass Wars, a retelling of the Alice in Wonderland tale. Now, let's look at Peter Pan.

Peter Pan is a childhood favorite, and has been since the publication of Peter and Wendy in 1911. Additional tales of this classic boy-who-never-grew-up story appear occasionally, such as the 1990's film Hook. In 2004, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, both noted and acclaimed authors, gave us Peter and the Starcatchers, yet another retelling of a classic adventure.

Starcatchers is by far not the same as James Barrie's classic novel. It's not even in the same category. Starcatchers user more complicated language, more mature depth of character, and it is longer. But none of these are bad traits. These make the novel much more engaging to the reader. While Peter and Wendy is a timeless classic, Starcatchers feels that it has to forge its own path, and it does so quite well.

The novel tells the story of a band of orphan boys who receive berths on a ship called the Never Land. A high-society lady and her ward Molly board as well, passengers of the unsightly wreck of a ship, carrying a strange box. At sea, the Never Land is pursued, albeit unknowingly for the longest, by the pirate Black Stache. One night, Peter leaves his berth in search of food and discovers the strange properties of the passenger's box. Eventually, he meets up with Molly, who tells him of starstuff, a mysterious substance that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, and the Starcatchers who find the substance and keep from dangerous individuals.

Black Stache overtakes the ship, Peter and Molly manage to escape, and eventually everyone winds up on Mollusk Island. From there, the story begins to look very familiar.

Barry and Pearson's novel is a retelling, but a prequel in many respects. It gives us another story of how Peter became Peter Pan, and what really transpired to get him to Neverneverland. It's an intriguing read, one that strikes out on its own. Starcatchers IS Peter Pan, but it's very much its own entity.

If you're a fan of the boy who never grew up, and you enjoyed fanciful tales of what might have been, such as Hook, this one is for you. The book was followed by two sequels, Peter and the Shadow Thieves and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, further expanding the retold mythos. This series is not to be missed.