Bridge To Neverland
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''The Bridge to Never Land'' is a children's novel written by
Ridley Pearson Ridley Pearson (born March 13, 1953 in Glen Cove, New York) is an American author of suspense and thriller novels for adults, and adventure books for children. Some of his books have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Literary ...
and
Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...
and published by Disney-Hyperion in 2011. It is the fifth book in the ''
Peter and the Starcatchers ''Peter and the Starcatchers'' is a children's novel that was published by Hyperion Books, a subsidiary of Disney, in 2004. Written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and illustrated by Greg Call, the book is a reinterpretation of the characte ...
'' series but unlike the others is set in the present day. The main characters in the story are two young Americans, Aidan and Sarah Cooper.


Plot

One day Aidan Cooper and Sarah Cooper discover a secret compartment in their father's massive oak desk. There was a small hidden door in the desk, inside was an envelope that contains a piece of very thin, almost translucent, white paper, on which, handwritten in black ink, are a series of seemingly random lines; among them are what appear to be fragments of letters, but not enough to make sense. At the bottom of the page is a verse about Peter Pan and a reference to a real hotel in London. As it happens, the Copper family is about to embark on a trip to Europe, so the children decide that while in London, they will try to locate the hotel. After some careful sleuthing, they manage to discover its location, and once inside, they find another clue. The Bridge to Never Land takes Sarah and Aidan on a quest that challenges them to solve a series of puzzles, which gradually convince them that Peter Pan is not fiction after all. They discover what happened to the remainder of the starstuff cache that Molly and Peter fought to protect many years ago. They also find out that in the early twentieth century, Molly and the other Starcatchers embarked on one last great mission to find a way to protect Never Land, a mystical island with magical creatures and a precious starstuff supply, from the increasingly intrusive outside world.


Characters

Sarah Cooper: A seventeen-year-old girl who is very adventurous. She committed herself through the journey to not let the starstuff fall into the hands of the evil Ombra. She can be very sarcastic, and has a very useful quality: she has a black belt in karate. Aidan Cooper: A fifteen-year-old boy who falls in love every week. He is one to stay out of trouble, thinking of consequences and the turnout, but is always led into trouble by his older sister, Sarah. Though she nearly causes him to get killed many times, he still loves her. J.D. Aster: A young college professor in his early twenties, J.D. is the last living Aster, and the last living Starcatcher. Unsure of his fate, he steps up to help Sarah and Aidan protect the starstuff and keep it away from Ombra. He pretty much made the whole thing happen. Peter Pan: Stuck between the ages of 12 and 14 forever, Peter lives in Never Land, as he has for over 100 years. He has always been ready to help the Starcatchers, and though reluctant to help Sarah and J.D., he goes back to earth with them. He is described as “A young boy with a wild tousle of red hair, a thin, extravagantly freckled face and upturned nose.” Tinker Bell: As always, this little "birdwoman" is at Peter's side through all of his part of the journey. She always has a sarcastic rude remark ready for anyone she does not like. She does not like any female who she thinks will get between her and Peter, therefore she calls them rude names, such as "fat cow" or "ugly girl." Lord Ombra: Ombra, the main villain in the series, returns in this book as a flock of big black birds. He has been severely damaged because of his fights with Peter throughout the series. Lord Ombra is split into the birds, so if one is killed, he still has more lives. He still maintains his ability to take over people's mind by stealing their shadows and finding info. Captain Hook'': ''Captain Hook is a pirate captain who is stuck on Never Land. He yearns to get off the island. He used to be called Black "Stache" Moustache. He desires starstuff so he can again become the most feared on the seven seas. He hates Peter for cutting off his hand, now only a stump covered by his razor hook. He is also terrified of "Mister Grin", a huge crocodile. Mr Magill: Mr Magill, who appeared in previous volumes, is a posthumously referenced. He own wolves and a bear. He is a Starcatcher who helped Peter, and other Starcatchers. He is the one who hid the paper mentioned at the beginning of Bridge to Neverland, the paper which starts the whole adventure. His wolves are the ancestors of the wolves in the cave that has the starstuff hidden in it.
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
: Einstein is a famous German physicist, discoverer of the
Theory of Relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
. In the prologue, Einstein is recruited by the Starcatchers to create an
Einstein-Rosen Bridge A wormhole ( Einstein-Rosen bridge) is a hypothetical structure connecting disparate points in spacetime, and is based on a special solution of the Einstein field equations. A wormhole can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate p ...
(the "Bridge" of the title) which seals Never Land off from the outside world. A secret history of Einstein's connection to Never Land is one of the novel's driving themes.


Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
finds that "The book's joyful sense of adventure and wonder is tempered somewhat by the constant pursuit of authorities and parental figures, as well as scenes set in Disney World that seem to be designed to remind readers that runaway children are serious business in this day and age." while
Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
notes that "While the authors take obvious delight in referencing their popular series, no prior knowledge is necessary in order to enjoy this rollicking page-turner."


See also

*
Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...
*
Ridley Pearson Ridley Pearson (born March 13, 1953 in Glen Cove, New York) is an American author of suspense and thriller novels for adults, and adventure books for children. Some of his books have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Literary ...
* ''
Peter and the Starcatchers ''Peter and the Starcatchers'' is a children's novel that was published by Hyperion Books, a subsidiary of Disney, in 2004. Written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and illustrated by Greg Call, the book is a reinterpretation of the characte ...
''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge to Neverland 2011 American novels 2011 children's books 2011 fantasy novels American fantasy novels American children's novels Novels by Dave Barry Peter and the Starcatchers Collaborative novels Hyperion Books books