Peter David,
Tigerheart
(Del Rey, 2008)


Darling has become Dear. Hook is now Hack. Wendy is now Gwenny. Tinkerbell, Fiddlefix. The Lost Boys are Vagabonds. Neverland is renamed Anyplace. The crocodile has been replaced with a serpent.

And the Pan is now simply The Boy.

But The Boy is not the center of attention in Peter David's reimagining of the Peter Pan story. Rather, young Paul Dear has grown up on tales of The Boy and now, after his baby sister dies and his mother's love turns cold, Paul sets out for Anyplace to see if there might be a Lost Girl to ease his mother's breaking heart. But things have changed in that magical land since The Boy defeated the villainous Captain Hack, and Paul finds himself battling pirates, Indians, a tiger and more in an effort to restore the natural order of things.

The author has done of remarkable job, both of recapturing the voice and style of Peter Pan writer J.M. Barrie and of creating something new and exciting that builds on, but does not simply copy, Barrie's timeless work. Tigerheart is rich and wonderful, sometimes a little wistful, even sad, but still conjuring the fantastic at every turn. This book is funny and lovely and warm, a pleasure for young and old alike, and it deserves a spot on the shelf reserved for books you'll read -- and share -- time and time again.




Rambles.NET
review by
Tom Knapp

8 August 2009


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