I like Peter Pan. The story is really good, and I can relate to Peter's desire to never grow up. However, I was a bit intimidated about the book "Peter and the Starcatchers" by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry, a prequel to Peter Pan, because it was about 400 pages, which is about twice the size of most books I normally read. However, after getting a recommendation to read "Gone With the Wind", which is about 1000 pages and no doubt very difficult to read, I decided to read "Peter and the Starcatchers" because I thought that compared to "Gone With the Wind", it should be easy and short, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story is pretty easy to follow, as it is a children's book, and although I'm about 150 pages into it and the conflict is still rising, it hasn't seemed long yet at all .The story is also high action, and the setting is very fantastical. I normally read realistic fiction, so this is a bit of a stretch for me, but it's cool to be able to branch out in what I read. However, something in this book that made me think was the way that the characters were either "good" or "evil".
The main character Peter is a "good" child, as is his love interest, Molly, and many of his friends. The Black Stache (a.k.a Captain Hook), is the "bad guy". He has all the characteristics of the typical fairy tale villain. He is ugly, he is only respected because he is feared, and all the truly "good" people hate him. It bugs me that even in a 400 page book, this character could not be developed more. In real life, nobody is truly "good" or "bad". People are complicated. I know this is a children's book, but I think that part of the reason that some adults are so prejudiced is because they have been taught things in black or white. Even the youngest of kids should know that everyone has good and bad in them. So although "Peter and the Starcatchers" is a good book and a good break from what I usually read, I think that the Black Stache should have been a more developed character.
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