Peter and the Starcatchers By Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry

This book is a prelude to Peter Pan, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Peter and several other orphans are being taken by boat to become slaves for an evil king. However, the ship is holding a secret chest of stardust that has magical powers. Peter discovers that Molly is a starcatcher, a group of people whose sole mission is to return the stardust to where it came before their enemies get a hold of it. Their ship is sunk by pirates, and the setting changes to an uncharted island. Throughout the book, the chest is sought by the starcatchers, their enemies, pirates, mermaids, and natives on the island. Peter and Molly band together to get the chest back from the others and return it to a safe location.

I wouldn't say this book is a must-read, but I enjoyed it very much. It was exciting when the chest was taken by all of the various groups, because it complicated a fairly obvious conflict. I also liked predicting in my own mind the different ways that this book would explain things from the Peter Pan story. The book explains Peter's eternal life as a boy, his flying ability, the reason the pirate is obsessed with catching Peter, how the pirate lost his hand, the crocodile that is hunting the captain, and the origin of Neverland.