Great Reads brings you book reviews on teen books that parents will love from such great young adult authors as Garth Nix, Clare Dunkle, DJ Machale, Stephanie Meyer and many more.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

"Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth", by J.V. Hart

While much has been written about Peter Pan, "Capt. Hook" tells the story of his nemesis. When young James Matthew arrives at Eton boarding school, it is immediately apparent that he is quite different from his peers. He is smallish in stature, sports long black curls and has an affinity for deadly spiders. Dubbed King Jas. he is picked on by most of the other Eton boarders, particularly Arthur Darling, who becomes James' most hated rival. His only friend, whom James has dubbed Jolly Roger, soon becomes a target as well.
While 2/3 of this book takes place at boarding school (and the ending certainly leaves room for a sequel, though ends the story being told) there is some amount of pirating and adventure on the high seas. We do see young James become "Captain Hook" though not quite yet of the Peter Pan infamy. The book is a lot of fun, and a great read for most ages. The author treats the character of Hook lovingly...and his love for all things Peter Pan becomes apparent in reading the author's thanks at the end (J.V. Hart was also a writer for the movie "Hook", starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman). Like Barrie's "Peter Pan", a portion of the author's royalties are donated to the Peter Pan Children's Fund, an organization that supports children's hosipital's through youth philanthropy programs.

For more fun on the high seas, true pirate stories, and real life sailing adventures, check out Tall Sails Adventures!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Enjoy! It's great fun!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your kind words. Good form. I am hard at work on the sequel, CAPT. HOOK - PIRATE KING. Keep passing the word.

To be continued

J.V.Hart

Asia said...

I was so jealous of Ananova...I cannot WAIT for the sequel. Thank you for keeping the magic of J.M. Barrie alive for me.