Peter and the Starcatchers

In an evocative and fast-paced adventure on the high seas and on a faraway island, an orphan boy named Peter and his mysterious new friend, Molly, overcome bands of pirates and thieves in their quest to keep a fantastical secret safe and save the world from evil. Award-winning authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have turned back the clock and revealed a wonderful story that precedes J. M. Barrie's beloved Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatchers is brimming with richly developed characters, from the scary but somehow familiar Black Stache and the ferocious Mister Grin to the sweet but sophisticated Molly and the fearless Peter. Page after page of riveting adventures take readers on a journey from a filthy, crime-ridden port in old England across the turbulent seas. Aboard the Never Land is a trunk that holds a magical substance that amazes -- just a sprinkle, and wounds heal; just a dusting, and people can fly. Roiling seas and dangerous thunderstorms are the backdrop for battles at sea. Bone-crushing waves eventually land our characters on Prawn Island -- where the action really heats up. This impossible-to-put-down tale leads readers on an unforgettable journey, fraught with danger yet filled with mystical and magical things.

Teen author Christopher Paolini breathes fire into the realm of fantasy -- whisking readers to a world of dragons, magic, and legends -- in his first impressive entry in the Inheritance trilogy. Following in the footsteps of J.R.R. Tolkien and Terry Goodkind, Paolini recounts the harrowing adventure of Eragon, a peasant boy who one day discovers a strange rock that happens to be a lost, coveted dragon's egg. Eragon finds himself raising the highly intelligent creature (which he names Saphira) and bonds with her both mentally and soulfully, but after a team of marauders sent by the land's conniving ruler destroys his family home and kills his uncle, the boy sets out to hone his skills as a Rider and claim his vengeance. Paolini pays meticulous attention to detail and to the characters' actions in the book, letting readers travel eagerly with the young hero along every step of his journey. Sure to sit memorably with lovers of the genre and worthy of every bit of praise it gets, Paolini's foray into fantasy writing will transfix and entertain.

You won't need a bottle of rum to enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, especially if you've experienced the Disneyland theme-park ride that inspired it. There's a galleon's worth of fun in watching Johnny Depp's androgynous performance as Captain Jack Sparrow, a roguish pirate who could pass for the illegitimate spawn of rockers Keith Richards and Chrissie Hynde. Depp gets all the good lines and steals the show, recruiting Orlando Bloom (a blacksmith and expert swordsman) and Keira Knightley (a lovely governor's daughter) on an adventurous quest to recapture the notorious Black Pearl, a ghost ship commandeered by Jack's nemesis Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), a mutineer desperate to reverse the curse that left him and his (literally) skeleton crew in a state of eternal, undead damnation.

INTO THE LAND OF THE UNICORNS
Having jumped into the fantasy land of Luster, Cara joins Lightfoot the unicorn in the search for Queen Arabella Skydancer.
From the well-loved author of such successful young readers' books as Aliens Ate My Homework, Dragonslayers, and the "Camp Haunted Hills" series comes the first book in an adventurous new saga--the story of a young girl destined to save a gentle land from the dangerous, evil hunters trying to destroy it.

While not limited to younger kitties, as my meowmie has discovered, I feel I must mew about the Harry Potter Series by J.K.Rowling. As of July 2003, there are now 5 books available and the 5th is reviewed on Sir Wally's main page.

David and Chuck's first interplanetary adventure offers "everything a solar-happy youngster could ask for."

Blork and his friends run into a prehistoric poodnoobie when they accidentally travel back in time to Splat. There, they learn how to survive in a world filled with enormous creatures that can't wait to find out what they taste like. Until they meet the most mysterious creature of all--and Blork is forced to make a terrible decision that will affect the future of the entire planet.

James Gurney
Author: Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time
Dinotopia: The World Beneath

I recently had the delight to read both Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time and Dinotopia: The World Beneath. I enjoyed both tremendously and the illustrations are wonderful. There is no age limit on enjoying books such as these. There will soon be a television mini-series based on them, coming later in May 2002.

For those not familiar with "Dinotopia", the original book, "Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time", was released in 1992, a New York Times best-seller, winner of the Hugo Award, Colorado Children's Book Award, The World Fantasy Award, and The Chelsey Award. The second book of the series, "Dinotopia: The World Beneath", followed in 1995. The books revolve around the story of a 19th century scientist and his son who are shipwrecked and explore the exotic island of Dinotopia, where they find humans and dinosaurs living together in a stunning world. While the story was entertaining itself, it was the breathtaking illustrations that truly brought the reader into the world he had created. "Dinotopia" has appeared in over 30 countries in 18 different languages, making it a globally known story.

For the five years that it has taken for Gurney to write and illustrate his two books Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time and Dinotopia: The World Beneath, he has immersed himself in every detail of the island, from maps to mechanics to metaphysics. Dinotopia has gone on to win many awards and is available in over 30 countries worldwide. It was featured on the cover of Smithsonian magazine in September of 1995. The newest Dinotopia book, First Flight,was published in the fall of 1999. br>

Here's a review of The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater submitted by my friend, Ferd.

This book for teens is about a series of adventures of two students, Walter Galt and Winston Bongo, who attend Genghis Khan High School. Once or twice a week they sneak out at night to see a double feature at the Snark Theater. There they meet Bentley Saunders Harrison Matthews, aka Rat, and her Uncle Flipping Hades Terwilliger. Rat's entire family is pretty crazy, because who else would have a non-Chinese Chinese butler named Heinz?

CHILDREN'S SPACE ATLAS:
A Voyage of Discovery for Young Astronauts Robin Kerrod

Here is the fascinating story of the creation of stars and planets told with words and pictures. With a planet-by-planet guide to the solar system and easy-to-follow charts of major constellations, this book details how, over the centuries, we have come to understand our galaxy and the worlds beyond it. Features diagrams and over 150 color photos, including dramatic photos taken by the Hubble telescope.