- Publisher: Berkley Books
- Publication date: 07/04/2017
- Pages: 304
- ISBN: 9780399584022
- Author: Christina Henry
Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry is an alternate take on the Peter Pan story.
This one is from the point of view of Peter’s oldest and truest friend, Jamie, who has been a boy on the island with Peter for hundreds of seasons. This is not a children’s story as it shows Peter as more of a narcissistic leader of almost a cult. He cares about himself and his own fun and games, and brings the boys from “The Other Place” to share in his ‘fun’. But he does not really care about the boys except as sources for his own amusement. If they die fighting pirates or get lost to the Many-Eyed monsters or other beasts on the island, they are easily replaced by another trip to the ‘other place’ where he can snatch unwanted children off the streets of Earth.
Jamie was the first of these boys who was brought to the island. He loves Peter and he loves the other boys and tries to protect them and take care of them. He often succeeds and buries them when he can’t. When Peter brings a new boy who is really too small for the types of ‘fun and games’ of the island, Jamie sets out to protect him. Peter is jealous of anyone getting love and attention other than himself.
This is a fun adventure story, but it also has some deeper things to say about childhood and growing up and how it is hard, but it is not all a bad thing. It also has somethings to say about loving someone so much that you look past their selfishness and abusiveness, and that at some point, it is worth it to grow past that. The exploration of a charismatic narcissistic leader who cares only about himself and how followers can get lost in their adoration was especially apt when this was written, and continues to be important today.
This is the second book by Christina Henry that I’ve reviewed here, but this is my favorite book by the author so far. Check out my review of Alice here. It’s another fun adventure story, but does not resonate as well with the original stories as Lost Boy. This is a terrific story and well worth the read.
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