You Need to Read: Peter Pan

Peter Pan is a boy who will never grow up and loves a good adventure. As we know, his favorite pastimes include spending time with the Lost Boys and taunting Captain Hook. Check out these couple of books that Peter might find intriguing.

The Double Dangerous Book for Boys
Written by Conn Iggulden
New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019. Informational. 317 pgs.

This informational book has vital information for kids who seek out adventure. It is chalk-full of information about things like flying machines, starting fires, American trees, and ruins of the world. This book would be perfect for Peter Pan, a young, adventure-seeker without parental supervision.

Beware the Crocodile
Written by Martin Jenkins
Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2019. Informational. 27 pgs.

You may not know as much about crocodiles as you think you do. This book digs into crocodiles and what makes them tick. Its fun and informative pages would have Peter Pan "hooked" onto every word.

The Pirates are Coming!
Written by John Condon

Illustrated by Matt Hunt
Somerville, Massachusetts: Nosy Crow, an imprint of Candlewick Press, 2022. Picture Book. 29 pgs.

Tom has been tasked with the important job of looking out for pirates and sounding the alarm if they do show up. Though Tom, doesn't know exactly what pirates look like and mistakenly rings his bell too soon. But when pirates do come to his island, what can he do?!

The Explorer
Written by Katherine Rundell
New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2017. Fiction. 324 pgs.

After their plane crashes during their trip back to England, four children are stranded in the jungle. Not only do they need to learn how to survive in the wild, but they also stumble upon a few secrets, a map, and city ruins that they can't help investigating.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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