Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language:  A few instances of the word “damn”; typical derogatory pirate talk.

Violence:  A lot of talk of walking the planks, men being thrown overboard, and threats of slicing them up and feeding them to the sharks; the pirates smack each other around a lot.  Typical descriptions of pirate attacks on the open seas.  The natives on the Mollusk Island throw Peter and his friends into a pit to be eaten by a crocodile.  Mermaids viciously attack two seamen who, in turn, attempt to stab and kill the mermaids.  The boys beat up one of the seamen with coconuts.  Molly is held at knifepoint by a pirate.  Black Stache stabs a native in the chest and leaves him to die.  And quite a few other instances of pirates attempting to kill Peter, Molly, and other pirates.

Sexual Content:  Allusions to Mrs. Bumbrake, Molly’s governess, spending evenings in Slank’s cabin on board the ship.  Peter dreams he is kissing a mermaid and wakes to find it is true (she is actually breathing life into him); Peter sweetly thinks about kissing Molly and how “it doesn’t seem so bad”.  The pirates wantonly gaze at the sunbathing mermaids (who, being mermaids, are naturally topless but with very long hair discreetly covering certain areas.)

Adult Themes:  Mrs. Bumbrake (is she married?) getting cozy with Slank; an allusion to Peter being maltreated at a home for boys; common pirate behavior such as drinking rum into oblivion, ogling mermaids, stealing, plundering, pillaging, etc.  The sails on Black Stache’s pirate ship resemble an enormous brassiere.

Synopsis

In this clever “prequel” to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, we learn all about what happened to Peter before we meet him on Wendy Darling’s bedroom windowsill.  The book begins with Peter, a 13 or 14-yr-old (even he’s not sure) and his fellow orphan mates being taken from St. Norbert’s Home for Wayward Boys in London and being placed aboard a ship, the Never Land, which unbeknownst to them will deliver them into servitude on a faraway island.  There he meets Molly Aster, an astute, pretty 14-yr-old girl who speaks with porpoises and confides in him about the contents of a mysterious trunk aboard the ship.  According to Molly, the trunk contains mystical, glowing “starstuff”, star matter which falls from the sky and is quickly retrieved by a secret society called the Starcatchers whose job it is to keep the powerful stuff from falling into the wrong hands.  Starstuff gives anyone who touches it immediate joy, warmth, increased intelligence, and the ability to fly.  It can also transform fish into mermaids, but in the hands of the Others, its power can be used for evil.  Peter is instantly intrigued (and a little dazed by the lovely Molly) and vows to help her protect the starstuff from Black Stache, a notorious and greedy pirate whose ship is now in hot pursuit of the Never Land.  Inevitably, a storm shipwrecks everyone on a tropical island inhabited by savage natives and a monstrous crocodile.  Swashbuckling adventures ensue as Peter and Molly rush to find the trunk before the pirates do.

As with all great children’s fantasy tales, this one indulges the adults, as well.  Its classic pirate dialogue (not too randy for the kids), clever storyline, and high-seas adventure will keep the pages of this novel turning.  The authors fill in many of the blanks from the original story (and the Disney cartoon) with delightful satisfaction.