Another Pan: Book Review

Another Pan

by Daniel & Dina Nayeri
Candlewick Press
September 14th 2010
Young Adult/ Fantasy
Peter Pan

Peter Pan - Re-imagined and brought into this century.
Peter is obsessed with his youth and is on a quest to find immortality.
Wendy and her brother John stumble across a door opened by the Book of Gates that turns myth into reality.
The three team up to find the ingredients to bring about immortality. But, on their way, they meet with challenges they never expected and some shallow competition. 

The cover of this book is hardly indicative of the book. We have a seductress and a less than impressed boy. Plus, the socks and her age are all wrong. The socks  remind me of the white sock and sandal scandal. How often are socks sexy? Totally thinking granny feet and it isn't helping. Having read the book, it is a bit more obvious what they are trying to achieve but the emphasis is all wrong.

I was under the impression that this book was going to be about the mythical god Pan, you know the goat dude. The development of Peter Pan was disappointing. I detest Peter Pan even in Disney form. There are so many things about his character that I heartily dislike. This book only helped to remind me of each and every reason for my feelings.

Peter is selfish first and foremost. He will use and abuse anyone and anything to get what he wants. He is impetuous and a complete jerk. I can't fathom what Wendy is thinking. Did she wake up one morning and sniff paint thinner until her brain cells took a dive? She is played out very true to character and comes off a ninny. John's personality and actions are actually very fitting for his age. He is naive and trying to find acceptance for himself in the school. He does make errors of judgement and then learns from them. His is possibly the best character in this book even at thirteen years old. I do not like the villain in this series. She embodies the emotion of hatred, which will always exist. There is very little personality to her and therefore it is hard to really loathe her. We are expected to hate her on principal alone. There are these small tidbits of thought for varying characters at the end of chapters. Several of them were rather odd and many didn't feel very necessary to character development.

Outside of the characters the book was actually entertaining. The motive for why Wendy helps Peter is a bit weak. Why does she feel like he should have immortality? No one convinced me he is in dire need. I relate more to the character of Marla in her enthusiasm for the myths. It was nice to learn each new myth and watch how things pieced together. The last myth was a bit of let down. The professor advertises it as the most important of the five, yet it comes to an end almost too easily. I was thinking there would be five gods protecting the last but there wasn't. Here, at the end, is the only time I agree with Peter. He is thinking about an occurrence involving John and pondering how quickly and simply it came to pass. Definitely the way I feel about the ending. Good thing the next book tackles Jekyll and Hyde and not more of Peter Pan. No interest in seeing what lengths he will go to now to achieve his goals.

In conclusion, it was a good retelling of Peter Pan and there are several aspects explored that are entertaining. If you aren't a fan of Peter Pan I suggest avoiding this one. On the other hand if you like myths and the impossible lengths some go to achieve them this book is for you.

Content: mild swearing
Main characters ages: 16 and 13