Thursday, April 14, 2011

Peter and the Starcatchers

Alright, I have a confession to make. I've been hooked on another series of books and have been reading them, instead of our book club books. Naughty, I know :) Cory started reading Peter and the Starcatchers (since I was neglecting it, oops!) and he said it was intriguing. I started reading it and bam, was hooked. It's entertaining and the characters were interesting. I wanted to find out what happened, so I kept reading.

And now, can I just say "amen" to Chad's post and call it good? I agree with him. The characters were all well-developed. It was very entertaining (I love Dave Barry... I've always thought he's hilarious). It did move quickly and made for a short, but good, read. It was adventurous. Witty. And I loved how they threw in some other references -- like how the Loch Ness monster was created, or how all the Greek mythology was actually people just hopped up on 'starstuff'.

The ending did feel a little rushed to me, too. Within the space of only a few pages, Peter defeats Black Stache (love that name, by the way), learns he can fly, learns he won't grow old, decides to stay forever on the island, and gets a fairy. I think a little more details would have been good, since the rest was more well-developed. But it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read. I'm definitely going to look into getting the other books in the series from the library.

3 comments:

Melvin and Carly said...

I agree with both you and Chad. Fun read. Loved the characters. I have to say that "the Ladies" bit was one of my favorite parts. And thank you to the illustrator for that picture! It was fabulous! :) I hadn't read the original Peter Pan story (though I did see it the other day at the library and am reading it right now) but am very familiar with the story from various movies and such. Except for rushing the end, as was mentioned, I thought Barry and Pearson did a great job setting up all of the other elements that are essential to the story - the mermaids, the natives, the pirates, the lost boys, the island itself, the crocodile... Very entertaining read. Just finished the second in the series, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, and it was fun too.

And shame on you, Sarah, for reading something else! How dare you? :)

Sarah said...

Yeah I must say, I'm not familiar with the story of Peter Pan ... other than vague familiarity with the basics. I think I saw Hook when I was like 13 or something... anyways, I think it would be really fun to read it now, after reading the "prequel". I know this may be a dumb question... but Carly, what's the book called? Peter Pan? I guess I've never seen the actual book... only the Disney movie versions.

Hehe, naughty, I know :)

Melvin and Carly said...

The one I read is titled "Peter Pan". At the end of the book there's a note that said that Barrie retold the story a few years after the original and called it "Peter and Wendy." Apparently that was the text I read, but under the original title. Slightly confusing, I know. I think both stories are pretty much the same but I could be wrong.