Bridge to Neverland

 

What if Peter Pan was real? What if starstuff was real? And what if you found a secret note from a starcatcher that led you on a crazy adventure to find and save starstuff? Well, then you would be the main character of Bridge to Never Land. 

But really. Let's be honest here, m'kay? This book was not a page turner; it took me waaaay longer to read this book. It was an okay book, but just not up to par. Not really what I expected. Plus it was super current. iPhones, iPads, etc, are mentioned far to frequently. However, I could tell that Barry & Pearson had done their research on Disney World. They even used the term "cast member"!! 

Anyway, this is super random. But the point is: maybe don't waste your time with this one. Save it for the kiddies.

Peter and the Sword of Mercy

In our final Peter chapter, which takes place directly prior to the Peter Pan story most common with Wendy, John, and Michael, Molly Aster is now grown up. She has married her friend, George Darling, and they have three children: Wendy, John, and Michael. George, as you know, is a very practical man, and has encouraged Molly, now Mary, to put all this nonsense and magic talk behind her. 

But then strange things start to happen. John, and original lost boy who chose to grow up with Molly, came to visit. And then he disappears, a victim of the underground kidnappings. Mary/Molly starts investigating, and she too disappears. It seems to be up to Wendy to save the day . . . 

And so our novel unfolds and the baton is handed off. I really did like this adventure and totally recommend it! Read On! 

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon

"I'll be careful," said Peter, grinning. "Aren't I always careful?'

"No," said James 

In the third adventure of Peter's, we are taken to Rundoon as the starstuff is once in danger of evil people obtaining it. The dark is rising, and it is up to our heroes, once again, to save the day. In this adventure we meet the lost boys: Curly, Tootles, Nibs, and the twins. They had been sent to Rundoon to work for the King, but Peter invites them to escape and join him.

The shadow-man, the dark, is returning. It's kind of neat, actually, because he tries to use Peter's shadow, but can't get full control over Peter. At one point, Peter's shadow is separated from himself, which explains that right there. 

So I don't really have much else to say about this book. I liked it though! 

Peter and the Shadow Thieves

In this thrilling adventure of Peter's, a mysterious dark force who can control shadows is after the starstuff, and it is up to Molly and Peter to save the starstuff, Molly's parents, and themselves.

Some fun things:
-Peter and Tink meet a man by the name of Barrie in the streets of London
-Molly Aster is friends with a boy named George Darling
-A main part of this story happens at the Tower of London. Molly tells us that her father has taken her there before, but left her outside with a guard, "if I asked why, Father would make some joke about not wanting me to get my head chopped off"


I did enjoy this book. Barry and Pearson keep it as exciting and page turning as the first as they give us more of Peter's history. As this one is based on shadows I thought it would give us some insight into Peter and his shadow . . . but you'll have to wait for the next one: Peter and the Secret of Rundoon!!

Double Identity

In Margaret Peterson Haddix's Young Adult Mystery Double Identity, we read of Bethany, a young girl who is suspiciously left at a stranger's house. A stranger who is her aunt. All over town people are "recognizing" Bethany, looking like they've seen a ghost. Yet noone will tell Bethany anything. Bethany strives to figure out not only who she is, but all the mysteries of her family. It turns out *SPOILER!* that Bethany had a sister, a sister who died years before Bethany was born. A sister who grew up in the town where Bethany has been stranded. A sister Bethany resembles almost perfectly . . . because she is her clone. 


Near the end of the book, Bethany starts to think about what it means to be her instead of a clone of her sister. Thinks of how she can be unique. And for a children's book, MPH has this covered. I would like to see this concept tackled at a deeper level though, where they already know they're a clone and are striving to make themselves their own (which isn't really what Double Identity is about. It's more solving the mystery of her origins) as opposed to a copy. But overall I did enjoy and do recommend this book. Read on!

The Almost Moon

"Alice Sebold may be our true heiress to Edgar Allan Poe, a novelist who dares to write honestly about the banality of violence, and about how it lives next door to normalcy, in a mist." -Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer

Romano's analysis of Sebold and Almost Moon is completely correct; Sebold is eerily Poe. For a book about mother-daughter relations  and accountability for actions, it is a gripping story with an element of intensity and disgust. Our main character, Helen, is a mother and a daughter, but has always been primarily a daughter. Her mother holds an uncanny grip on her, despite Helen growing up and making a life of her own. Eventually Helen's mother becomes old and feeble. Helen is the only one who can take care of her, continuing to be insulted by her mother. Finally she can take it no longer, and kills her mother. The rest of the novel unfolds with the repercussions of Helen's actions and her resulting emotions. The emotions Helen struggles with are much more exciting than the actual action; it's really intense and makes you think. What would you do in this situation? 

This is a typical creepy book for me and I really enjoyed it! I recommend it, with the caution that it does delve into some un-mormon behaviors as well as touchy emotional subjects. Enjoy! 

Matched

Slated as a cross between Twilight and Hunger Games, I was surprised when Cass brought this home from the library. He read Matched first, said it was clear that Ally Condie is from Utah, and it was reminiscent of The Giver and, despite similarities, he liked it better than Twilight. 

So I read it. It does start out very Giver-esque, with the banquets and the ceremonies. In this society they have the ability to predict everything. They predict who will be your best match. How you will react in a given situation. The figure out what your caloric intake should be and provide appropriate meals. They assign your job, tell you where to live. Tell you when to have children, when to stop having children. And when to die. They have exacted what makes the optimal life and are providing it for their society. Yet there is a mix up at the Matching, and Cassia has been given two matches -- one a mistake, he's an aberration and disallowed to be matched, Ky, and one a childhood friend, a best friend, Xander. See the Twilight similarities? Guess which boy she chooses?? And of course, I like the other one.

So that bothered me. I liked parts of it. I like the idea even though it's not super original. She's also been signed by Disney I guess. She's definitely writing to her target audience -- Twilight -- and it's a little predictable, but I just can't get over the boy problem. I think Ky is a creeper. But there are a lot of occasions where I find boys to be creepers in media and I'm the only one. Overall, I did like this book. And I will read the next one, I'm sure, when Cass brings it home from the library in a month or two. And maybe I won't hate the ending. Hopefully it solves some of the mysteries Condie has laid out for us in the first book and doesn't turn into a ridiculous teenage love story with the cover of having more to it. Because this book, the series I'm sure, is ultimately about free will, agency, the power to choose. It's much deeper than Twilight, and I really hope Condie doesn't sell out just for numbers. Quality over Quantity, right? Please?