Peter Pan in Scarlet

Great! You Peter Pan lovers will love this book!

Neverland is in trouble. Wendy and the Old Boys (formerly the Lost Boys) know something is wrong because, as Wendy says, “Dreams are leaking out of Neverland.” They all wake up from nightmares with evidence in their beds – a cutlass, a quiver of arrows, a pirate’s hat, an alarm clock. And so they find a way to return to childhood and to Neverland, where, sure enough, trouble abounds.McCaughrean won a contest enabling her to write this “authorized” sequel to J.M. Barrie’s classic work. What I didn’t know (and maybe you didn’t either) is that Barrie gave all the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. This generous gift has been incredibly valuable to the hospital, and it is this institution that held the competition. The timing is interesting, as several other Pan-inspired books have been published of late. The challenge for the author was to keep the tone and feeling of the original work while making it work for a modern audience. She has caught the wild adventure, the spirit of Peter Pan, the dream-like quality of life in Neverland. The book is longer and a little more complex, and of course it doesn’t sound like J. M Barrie. But Pan lovers will delight in the story and Scott M. Fischer’s silhouette illustrations are in perfect keeping with the old Pan books.Grades 5 and up (younger for reading aloud).

NOTE: SPOILER TO FOLLOWPersonally, I was excited about this book. I'm a fan of the original, so when finally an authorized sequel came out, I waited eagerly on the edge of my seat. It seems sitting in that position so long, was needless, as this book wasn't worth it, or worth the expensive price slapped on it, and we all know why they could ask that much for it; the names of JM Barrie and Peter Pan. When the author wrote this book, she was obviously trying much too hard to sound like her predecessor. What happened to the characters? Who is that ridiculous looking circus freak? Oh, wait, don't tell me! Captain Hook! Well we thought he was dead wasn't he? Noooooo, he came back to life! You don't say? Yes, unfortunately, I do. Ruining and mutilating the fitting ending Barrie had give Jas. Hook just wasn't enough however, as we also see a brand new and all together awful Peter Pan. In scarlet, no less. Isn't that a surprise. He puts on Captain Hook's old coat... *whispers* EXCUSE ME!!! Where did our lovable ticking crock throw up oh-so-conveniently Captain Hook, AND, his coat! I'm sorry, but I expected a NEW bad guy. A NEW adventure of Peter Pan. Not somebody's packaged up fan-fiction.

This book starts with a shock and gets better from there. I really liked McElderry interpretation of J. M. Barries characters. She was very close and I think hit is spot on with the language of Barrie's time. It sounded very much like Barrie wrote it himself.One thing, I didn't like, though, was that Tootle became a girl. O.o That was just wrong.

A worthy follow-up to the original

Maybe I would have liked this one better if I hadn't already read a great Peter Pan adaptation (the Peter and the Starcatchers series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson). I really tried to like this book, but it was just too unbelievable and felt too forced.

The lost boys who were adopted by the Darling family have grow-up with families of their own. Wendy and the boys dream of Neverland. Fearing their is trouble they capture a fairy put on their children's clothes and return to the land of eternal childhood. Neverland and Peter have changed. As the story unfolds the reader discovers why Peter is growing up and who is responsible for the slow death of Neverland.

In 2004, the Great Ormond Street Hospital (holders of the rights to Peter Pan held an open-call for authors to submit a sample chapter and synopsis for a proposed sequel to Peter Pan, to be published in honor of the centennial of the story in 2006. Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan in Scarlet became the authorized sequel to J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan. Picking up the story some years later (but seemingly ignoring the epilogue of the original), all the Darling children have become full-grown grown-ups now. However, they all discover that they have been having dreams of Neverland; dreams so real that they are bringing objects back with them from their dreaming (pistols, cutlasses, etc). Wendy decides that there must be something wrong in Neverland and they all decide to travel back to try to help Peter with whatever is ailing Neverland.In order to return to Neverland, however, the Darling's must discover how to become children again. They borrow their children's clothing and pretend to be children again, which does the job. Upon arriving in Neverland, they discover that Peter is moodier than usual, and living alone in the Wendy House, which has become a tree house in the branches of the Nevertree, which hasn't been cut in years and has grown through the roof of the underground hideout. They decide that a quest is in order to brighten everyone's spirits and they set off in search of a dragon. While in search of a dragon, they discover that the Lagoon is littered with the skeletons of mermaids, and they find the skeleton of The Crocodile as well. Wendy also meets Ravello, a circusmaster, and his animals. While they are standing on the shores of the Lagoon, the Jolly Roger beaches itself in front of them, and Peter decides to rename it the Jolly Peter. He also discovers a chest in Hook's old rooms, which contains his second-best coat and a treasure map. Peter dons the coat and decides to search for the missing treasure.What follows is at once a fun, romping adventure to parts previously unknown in Neverland and at the same time a story that seems to loose its way occasionaly. The final confrontation at the end of the story is very vague, to the point where I thought that my book was missing pages; I thought I had missed something in the reading. It becomes more a test of wills than anything else, and this struck me as being a little off for Peter Pan, who was never one to think things through as he was to simply do whatever came to mind, as any child would.However, by the end of the book, I was completely wrapped up in the conclusion. I don't want to spoil any of it, but the ending left me feeling so buoyed, the frenetic jumping through the final confrontation was meaningless to me. I felt the story ended perfectly and that everyone got the happily-ever-after that they needed.I was surprised by McCaughrean's storytelling. She didn't shy away from making appropriate occurrences in the story that helped it move along, whether or not those occurrences could be seen as "child friendly" (for instance, the holes that are being wripped into Neverland are a result of the Great War, which is also the reason for the fact that Michael Darling is missing from this story). She took the story as Barrie presented and moved it forward in such a way, that while the writing didn't always match, the story felt like it was a natural progression from what came before. Overall, an enjoyable read and worthy sequel to the story of the boy who won't grow up.

The first authorized sequel to the source material proves A wonderful addition to the classic

This book is clever, funny, and well written -- for it's style. But there's a reason why children today don't read Barrie or other turn of the century authors. The style has a precious quality to it that American kids are going to find cloying. It's too bad that the author did not focus on the characters and adventures rather than trying to write like Barrie. I read about a third without finding a reason to want to finish it.

One of the best books I've read over the last few months (or even years), I can't sing its praises high enough. Brimming with imagination and invention, from the beginning it is not at all surprising when, after having dreamt of Neverland, things like cutlasses and a quiver of arrows are left behind in the bed next morning, or that fairies hatch out of a baby's first laugh. I loved the fact how she portrayed the now grown-up Darling children and their adopted brothers, once the Lost Boys, as slightly ridiculous, by writing their appointment to fly to Neverland into their diaries (on a Sunday, so that children would not need to be collected from school), by having them chase after flying insects in the park in their search for fairies or by having them squeeze into their own children's clothing in order to become children again themselves. Once there, the reader is immediately transported into this magical land together with the characters, where they turn the Wendy House into the Trans-Sigobian Express and drink Bovril from a samovar. But all is not well in Neverland, and there is a definite dark undercurrent running through the book, just enough to add mystery and excitement to the narration. Humour is provided in the shape of Firefly, a mischievous and very hungry fairy, and the respectable Judge Tootles, who, having only daughters, had to put on a smocked party dress and ballet shoes and turn into a girl. There are so many wonderful images in this book, written in beautiful, evocative prose, that I could go and on. The author has got so much to say about the nature of childhood and of growing up, of friendship and love, yet it is done so subtly and skilfully that the book's profundity never interferes with characterization or plot development but is always perceived as a natural extension of it. I read this book to my 7-year-old son, and I've never seen him so eager for me to read just one more page, one more chapter; he still calls this book one of his absolute favourites. Together with David Wyatt's illustrations, this book is a joy to read and I, for once, have to concur with the Mail on Sunday in calling it "a little masterpiece". This book will enrich your life and you will treasure it forever.

I Really enjoyed this book.It has a delightful feel. The story is great and it "feels" like pure Peter Pan. A wonderful trip back to childhood for characters and readers.

I had super high hopes of this book, as I've been a fan of Geraldine's since I was 8 & was excited that she won the competition to write the sequel to Peter Pan. So... how is it? Well, I gobbled it up in one setting. The writing is classic Geraldine, gorgeous & witty. The characters are feisty, inventive, and magical - especially the new fairy, Fireflyer (Whedon reference?!). The lights are light and the darks are scary dark. And yet... and yet, compared to White Darkness, I felt there was something missing. Maybe the originality? Maybe the sense that, in Neverland, everything will turn out somehow OK. The spiralling internal world of Sym in that book - first person narrative - was just more compelling. Or maybe I feel like there's an ironic edge to McCaughrean's handling of the mores of the older text. But it's a grand read, nonetheless. I hope that it makes her kersquillions of pounds so that she can write more books.

I really enjoyed being back in Neverland with Pan, Wendy and the others, but the book itself I was a little disappointed with L It had such potential too! The author really has a wonderful way of capturing the quirkiness and magicalness of Neverland (such as with her descriptions: "a compass in Neverland has as many points as a frightened hedgehog"), but I think she focussed too much on trying too hard to get it right maybe. Her use of unusual and imaginative descriptions really did add to the wonder of Neverland, and she seemed to capture the essence of the characters by remaining true to their nuances, individual mannerisms and phrases; but somehow the novel just didn't whip me up. It felt quite rigid in structure to me, every chapter felt like it had a purpose to unfold something new and move the story on. This is all very well, but I would have preferred it if she had spent a couple of chapters without any drama or anything new so that I could get to know the characters thoughts and feelings and get more swept up into their experiences and personal journey. It would have been nice if she had explored them a little more so that I had more of an attachment in what was actually happening to them in the story. I also found that I had predicted what was going to happen from very early on, this is something I really enjoy doing, but it is nice to be surprised sometimes. JK Rowling really manages to make the unexpected happen; whereas Peter Pan in Scarlet just unfolded as I imagined it would. Credit it to her, there was a surprise in there for me that I hadn't worked out, but by then it was too late I still think it's very much worth reading, it's great to be back in the world, and as I mentioned, the quirkiness of some of her descriptions are wonderful. Her ideas on 'what happened next' after the end of the last book are very interesting. For me though, it is just an average childrens book. I think I may re-read the original to see what it's like! (want to buy it in hardcover so that it matches this one on my book shelf ).

It is a new perspective on a children's story, the original characters return to Neverland to help Peter, who is much darker and more solitary. The truth is that it is an interesting book that has different metaphors; it touched me a lot and made me think about so many things from the original story. It is worth reading. (Translated from Spanish)

It is a well-crafted story about what happens after Wendy and all the Lost Boys leave Neverland and grow up. Peter is depicted as quite resentful and changed. It's a good novel for young people who enjoy reading. (Translated from Spanish)