Peter Pan Prequel: Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

An unlikely pair of authors, Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize humorist, and Ridley Pearson, suspense/thriller writer, have combined their considerable talents to write prequels (or prequel and prequel sequel) to James Barrie's classic fantasy Peter Pan.

In the first of these solid novels, Peter and the Starcatchers Barry and Pearson introduce us to Peter and a group of unfortunate orphans being shipped off to be servants to the evil King Zarboff III of Rundoon aboard the worst ship in the British merchantile fleet, the Never Land. Also aboard is a curiously light and heavily guarded trunk with mysterious powers for anyone who touches it, a pretty young girl named Molly, who seems to know the secret of the trunk, and a crew of slovenly and potentially murderous sailors led by the evil First Mate Slank. Also setting sail from the same port is the British Navy's fastest sailing ship, the Wasp, upon which is also being loaded an identical secret trunk accompanied, strangely, by Molly's father, Lord Aster.

Both ships are shadowed by the notorious Black Moustache (Stache for short), a cruel pirate captain who plans to outrun the Wasp and seize its mysterious cargo. Stealthily foraging for food when the boys' shipboard ration of worm and mouse soup is inedible, Peter meets up with Molly and learns of her magical locket filled with a substance which enables her to fly. As the pirate ship threatens, Molly tells Peter of the hidden trunk containing a huge cache of this magical starstuff which embues mortals with great peace and joy, strength, health, intelligence, and the ability to fly at will. Molly is a Starcatcher apprentice, and her father is dedicated to keeping this life-enabling treasure out of the hands of the evil Others, who seek its powers to dominate mankind.

As the pirate ship nears and a deadly storm breaks the Never Land apart, Molly and Peter push the magical trunk into the sea and are washed ashore an island, along with the other orphans and assorted crewmen and pirates, where they are captured by natives and barely escape being eaten by their giant crocodile, Mr. Grin. Aided by mermaids and dolphins summoned by the starstuff, Molly, Peter, and his boys dodge Slank, Black Stache, the natives, and the crocodile through many twists and turns of plot until at last Peter lays hands upon the gold box which holds, but cannot quite contain, the much-sought starstuff. Although the dangers are at last resolved for the moment, Peter learns that his handling of the magical substance has both endowed him with the permanent power of flight, but has also arrested his growth and rendered him eternally a boy who can never grow up.

Ridley and Barry know how to keep a story moving suspensefully and humorously through many a peril and twist of plot. Greg Call's full-page black-and-white illustrations, a retro blend of art deco and Howard Pyle-like style just right for this fantastical adventure, add to the spellbinding magic of the story. At last we find out where Barrie's "Red-skins" and crocodile came from, and we find out why the ever-youthful Peter can fly. We even find out how Peter got his fairy guardian (Tinkerbell), but I still wonder how that alarm clock got on the island and into Mr. Grin's tummy!

Peter's story is continued in its sequel Peter and the Shadow Thieves and the story of the lost boys is continued in a parallel story Escape from the Carnivale.

For a short and funny video featuring Dave Barry interviewing his co-author (and fellow musician in "the world's worst rock band") Ridley Pearson about his just published thriller, Killer Weekend, follow this link and scroll down to play the interview.