Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publish Date: September 14, 2010
Source: Library
Sixteen-year-old Wendy and her insecure freshman brother, John are hitting the books at the Marlowe School. But one tome consumes their attention: The Book of Gates, a coveted Egyptian artifact that their professor father believes has magical powers. Soon Wendy and John discover that the legend is real -- when they recite from its pages and descend into a snaking realm beneath the Manhattan school. As the hallways darken, and dead moths cake the floor, a charismatic new RA named Peter reveals that their actions have unleashed a terrible consequence: the underworld and all its evil is now seeping into Marlowe.
The best descriptor I can think of when it comes to the
Another books is strange. It’s a good kind of strange that makes me keep
reading to find out what crazy odd-ball thing will be thrown at me next,
though. This one, for instance, Another
Pan is obviously a Peter Pan
spin-off/retelling, but it’s also about an old Egyptian curse. I certainly
never would have put those two things together, but it works.
I loved drawing the connections between the original Pan
story (well, at least the Disney version that I know) and this one. The
Nayeri’s definitely had some ingenious tricks for the correlations. Pointing
them out wouldn’t necessarily be spoilers, but I think it takes a little of the
fun away, so I’ll just say that my favorite one was their reimagining of the
crocodile.
I found some of the characters to be absolutely infuriating,
but I’m pretty sure that’s the way I was meant to feel and it didn’t hinder my
enjoyment of the story. Plus, a few of them even had redeeming moments. I’m
starting to think Peter is a terrible boy after all the versions of the story
that I’ve read, though.
I really appreciated Wendy’s internal struggles. At times I
wanted to pull her aside and knock some sense into her, but it felt genuine.
The Nutshell: If you’re a fan of retellings with a little strange thrown into the mix, then you should probably give Another Pan a try as well as its predecessor. They can easily be read separately without missing a thing, but if you like one, it’s highly likely that you’ll enjoy the other as well.
Pages: 393
Series: Another #2
Rating: Hit
I've yet to read any Peter Pan re-tellings but some of them have definetly caught my eye. For instance, Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson which is coming out at the beginning of July!
ReplyDeleteI really like the sound of this one because it has a more... darker concept than most.
Brilliant review, thanks so much for sharing! :D
I discovered your blog from Katie's Book Blog interview. I'm excited to follow you. You seem to have good tastes.
ReplyDelete