Monday, November 21, 2011

Another Knock at the Window

Well, it's happened yet again, folks.

Someone else has decided to write another novel about Peter Pan.

This time it's Always Neverland by Zoe Barton.
I haven't read it (yet?) but apparently (if one is to be absolutely technical about it) it doesn't hold water or air, in that it includes Tinker Bell and Captain Hook.  Maybe there's something in the book that 'magically' resurrects these two characters, I don't know.  If not, then we can add it to the pile that just ignores what Sir J.M. Barrie wrote.  Sad, no?

Here's the "blurb" for it:

School has only been out for one whole day, and Ashley can already tell her vacation is going to bore her to tears. With her friends out of town and her parents working nonstop, she finds herself alone and with nothing to do—until one night she wakes up and discovers Peter Pan in her bedroom, wrestling with his shadow.


Since his original adventure with the Darlings, Peter Pan has been bringing new “Wendy girls” to Neverland to take care of the Lost Boys. But Ashley’s made of much tougher stuff than the Wendy girls before her—she’d rather befriend the mermaids or fight Captain Hook and his pirate crew. Creating new adventures for her friends, Ashley is bringing change to Neverland . . . and not everyone is happy about it. 


Not that the idea isn't something ANYONE could think of... but doesn't this Ashley sound like one Amy Alexis Richards?  And "wrestling with his shadow" seems to imply that it's doing that 'move on its own' trick that doesn't really exist.  [Link to more misconceptions about Peter Pan in the left sidebar.] 

Anyone else want to take a stab at the contents of this one before I get to it?

I have to say, though, that I kind of like the depiction of Peter Pan on the cover.  The triangular shape of the leaves isn't as appealing to me, but the rest of him is great.  And isn't that Disney's version of the Neverland shown?  I do really enjoy how the whole design of the cover leads you toward opening the book.

2 comments:

Sally said...

You know, just because a story isn't 100% faithful to JM Barrie's writing doesn't automatically mean it's a bad one.

Peter Von Brown said...

I didn't say it's a bad one.
Just pointing out that it seems inaccurate to Barrie. When using another author's work in a story that's meant to be contiguous with his/her works, one should strive to uphold what he/she wrote. Otherwise it's just plain negligence and disrespect.