Did you ever wonder how that infamous rivalry between Peter Pan and Captain Hook really began? Have you ever pondered the true origins of fairy dust? Or asked yourself why Peter is a permanent boy? And how about that whole 'Peter feeds Hook's hand to a crocodile' thing -- what was that about? Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry decided to explore some of those very questions, and their answers soon became part of a novel: Peter and the Starcatchers. The book is sure to amuse anyone who (through the book Peter Pan, the movie, the play, or even Hook) is familiar with the Peter Pan story. Peter and the Starcatchers revolves around Peter, a brave young orphan who is being sent across the seas on a ship, to the home of a not-so-nice king... to whom Peter will be a servant. But the ship never reaches its destination, as it is soon overtaken by the evil Black Stache (aka Captain Hook, before that whole hand-losing thing). Stache wants a treasure that is currently being hidden on Peter's boat. The treasure is truly a wonderful thing, called Starstuff -- and it can bring one infinite power and happiness. One of the other passengers on Peter's ship, a girl named Molly, just happens to be one of the people in an order (the Starcatchers) whose sole purpose is to protect Starstuff and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. In the adventures that follow, you'll be introduced to all the things that make Neverland... well, Neverland -- fairies, mermaids, pirates, and, of course, that hungry crocodile. Throw in some porpoises for good measure, and some flying children... and you've got yourself one very fun read. The idea for the story came from the mind of Ridley Pearson's daughter, Paige, who -- one evening, after a bedtime story -- asked her father how Peter Pan and Captain Hook met in the first place. Before long, Ridley and Dave Barry were corresponding via email, writing the book together. Each writer took a set of characters and a set of chapters. Once a chapter was finished, one writer would email it to the other, and they'd edit each other's work. "Ping-pong editing," Ridley called it. This process had a very cool effect. Said Ridley: "It pulled my voice out of it, pulled his voice out of it... and it became our voice." The men had an agreement that the chapters would keep going back and forth until both of them were happy with the work. Eventually, they finished the book -- but not before axing Ridley's idea to include "time-traveling hamsters." Along the way, Dave discovered that writing with an outline (something he had never done much, and something that Ridley does meticulously when writing his novels) could be an enjoyable experience. Dave Barry has written many books, but is probably best known for his humorous syndicated newspaper column. He was also the inspiration for the 90's sitcom Dave's World. Ridley Pearson is, according to Dave Barry, "a nuclear reactor of ideas.... he's always thinking of plots... always thinking of stories... and always thinking of ways to kill people." Ridley is a writer of crime novels -- mysteries and thrillers. At a 2004 talk and book signing in Portland, Oregon, Ridley and Dave discussed the creation of their novel, and also read brief snippets from it, at one point speaking "Porpoise" for an amused audience. Donned in pirate garb (see sketch), the men also answered audience members' questions and gave out eye patches to children. Ridley and Dave explained that they have nothing but respect for J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and were in no way trying to improve upon it. Said Ridley, about the original novel: "We had this incredible classic that, from the first couple of pages, set up unanswered questions.... We just looked at that wonderful gift the classic gives us." And they turned that gift into yet another gift for readers. Peter and the Starcatchers is an incredibly clever and worthy companion to the original novel. I was amazed by the fact that there just doesn't seem to be a climax; high points of the story are strewn throughout. Just when you think the excitement is over, along comes another twist to keep you turning those pages. Leave a message in the guestbook to comment on this article. :) Back to Books Back to Main (c)2005 AlligatorJuice.com.