Peter and the Starcatchers (Starcatchers Series #1) (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

by Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Greg Call (Illustrator)

Overview

A magical adventure on the high seas pits an orphan boy named Peter and his mysterious new friend, Molly, against pirates and thieves, in their quest to keep a fantastical secret safe and save the world from evil.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781417734429
Publisher:	Perfection Learning Corporation
Publication date:	04/04/2019
Series:	Starcatchers Series , #1
Edition description:	THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Dave Barry is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of more than two dozen books including The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog; Dave Barry’s Money Secrets; Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys; Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway; and Big Trouble.

Ridley Pearson is the bestselling author of twenty-three novels, including the young adult novel The Kingdom Keepers and the adult thrillers Killer Weekend, Cut and Run, The Pied Piper, The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, Beyond Recognition, and Undercurrents.

Hometown:

Miami, Florida

Date of Birth:

July 3, 1947

Place of Birth:

Armonk, New York

Education:

B.A. in English, Haverford College, 1969

Website:

http://www.davebarry.com

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
Bestselling authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson turn back the clock and set their sights on younger readers, teaming up for an action-packed prequel to J. M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan. Fast paced and brimming with seafaring adventure, Barry and Ridley's modern update returns to pre–Never Land days, quickly zeroing in on Peter, now a "wayward boy" who finds himself aboard a ship (called the Never Land) with other chums from St. Norbert's. Soon, Peter meets the headmaster's mysterious daughter and persuades her to reveal her secret about a chest full of "starstuff" -- a substance that can make people fly and give them other magical qualities -- that's being claimed by the British throne. Unfortunately, the scheming pirate Black Stache has his own plans for the powder-filled chest, and the plot thickens as readers are whisked from dramatic high-seas battles to a deserted island, where the dreaded villain eventually loses his hand to the legendary crocodile and where Peter makes his home. From beginning to end, the authors don't skimp on cliff-hanging turns of events, dishing up an inventive spin on Peter Pan's background that should sit well with audiences young and old. If you pick up Barrie's original first, Ridley and Barry's book won't suffer by comparison, a true testament to this team's remarkable writing style; and if you haven't yet read Barrie, Peter and the Starcatchers will make you eager to experience Peter Pan. With Disney at the helm of this book, too, the film promises to be but a heartbeat away. Matt Warner

bn.com

Ever wonder how Captain Hook lost his hand to a crocodile? Then crack open this thoroughly entertaining prequel to Peter Pan. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Barry and bestselling thriller writer Pearson tie up loose ends with a rollicking story that stretches from an English orphanage across a turbulent sea to faraway Mollusk Island. (Ages 8 to 12)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2004

A much-loved humorist and a renowned writer of adult thrillers make a strong combined crossover bid with this compulsively readable prequel to Peter Pan. The plot revolves around a trunk full of "starstuff," a celestial substance that induces both feelings of well-being and unpredictable physical changes (the ability to fly or to stop aging) in those who handle it. When a secret society called Starcatchers tries transporting the starstuff to safety, the shipment is hijacked for nefarious purposes by the wonderfully named Slank-after which it changes hands over and over as a quintet of orphans led by alpha male Peter, feared pirate Black Stache (named for his facial hair), mermaids, island folk, and an oversized crocodile dubbed Mister Grin are thrown into the never-a-dull-moment plot. Despite continual danger and violence, wounds and corpses disappear with Disney-like speed, and by the end, all the major characters except Wendy and sibs appear onstage (and Black Stache is ready for a new moniker). This doesn't capture the subtler literary qualities of its progenitor, but readers drawn by authorial star power or swashbuckling will come away satisfied. (Fiction. 11-13, adult)

Kirkus Reviews