50:120 The Bridge to Neverland by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

The 5th book in the Starcatchers series.  This takes place in modern times, 2010 or so, and we are following Sarah and Aiden who have found a map in an old desk their father has acquired just before they are heading to England on a family vacation.  Sarah insists that they follow it and by doing so, they find an old cache of starstuff the Starcatchers left behind.  Unfortunately, by opening the cache, they have alerted the remnants of Ombra that there is starstuff again and he is after it to try and bring himself back into his full power once more.  Sarah and Aiden are forced to run away from home and try to find a way to get it somewhere safe once again but that means trying to follow the clues to find the bridge to Neverland which is no longer a regular part of our world and may be the only place where they can leave it safely.

Bringing the story into modern times caused it to lose some of the whimsy that the first four had and Peter as someone who is now over 100 years old, trapped on the island with all his friends and enemies who also don't age and where basically nothing ever changes and he has become jaded and suspicious of anything different which makes him much less approachable than in previous books.  On the whole, it was neat to see things brought forward to modern time and Peter's reaction to it but I don't think it was definitely a step down from the previous books.

Page Count: 438p/,11,815p ytd/226,749p lifetime

116:120 Peter and the Sword of Mercy by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

The 4th book in the Starcatchers series.  This one takes place about 20 years after the adventures in Peter and the Secret of Rundoon.  George and Molly have gotten married, had 3 children, and settled into more mundane life.  The Starcatchers seem to have disbanded as the need for them appears to be over but now there are strange disappearances in the tunnels of the London Underground and a strange adviser to Crown Prince Edward.  James, Peter's friend from the island that returned with the Asters after Rundoon, is now an Inspector and very suspicious of what he is seeing so he goes to visit Molly and tell her of his worries.  Right afterward, he disappears and Molly goes in search of him.  After she also disappears her daughter, Wendy, takes it upon herself to find this mysterious Mollusk Island and her mother's friend Peter as the only one who may be able to help save her mother.  Peter can not refuse and returns to London to find that not only is Molly missing but there is a frightening new foe called The Skeleton and Ombra is back disguised as the soon-to-be king's adviser, von Schatten.  Peter must find enough allies and enough courage to stop Ombra and the Skeleton once again or the world will pay the price.

Apparently the series was basically over after the last book but with children clamoring for more, this book was brought to life.  I read it aloud to my younger two and they loved it.  I found it a nice simple story that did a good job of bridging the Starcatchers series over to where we first met Peter Pan in the original book by Mr. Barrie.

Page count: 515p/32,673p ytd/213,711p lifetime

101:120 Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry & Ridley Peterson

The 3rd book in the Starcatchers series.  The reports of starstuff falls are no longer being reported to the Starcatchers and Lord Aster is heading to France to discuss the matter with the other Starcatchers.  Molly, curious as always, ends up sneaking away and doing some research to find out that the mysterious reports came from a Mr. Pan who disappeared 12 years ago, about the same time an infant named Peter was deposited at St. Norbert's as an orphan.  Through some further investigation with her friend George Darling at her side, they discover that Mr. Pan had an affinity for knowing when the starstuff would fall and that his son, and their friend, Peter may also have talents where starstuff is concerned.  After giving her father this information, it's decided that Peter must come back to London with them so they can protect him but when they get to Mollusk Island, they discover that they are already too late as the island is overrun with a vicious clan called the Scorpions and Peter and his friends were just captured by a strange ship which is now heading with super speed to Rundoon, the kingdom of King Zarboff the Third, which is where the boys had been headed in the first book of the series.

And that's just where things start.  Now Leonard, with Molly and George in tow, must figure out how to find and save Peter from the Others and not only Peter but the existence of the entire world may hang in the balance.

My younger boys are really enjoying this series and with over a hundred pages left in this one were begging me to finish it right then (sorry guys but mommy's voice can't do quite that much in one sitting) and it's easy to understand why as things start out a little slow but then everything is happening all at once and while we all know it will turn out alright in the end, you just have to  find out HOW and RIGHT NOW!  Definitely a fun series.

Page count: 482p/27,542p ytd/208,580p lifetime

90:120 Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

The 2nd book in the Starcatchers series.  The Others are searching for the starstuff that caused all the problems aboard the Neverland and Slank is working with a new group under the leadership of a shadowy figure, Lord Ombra.  He takes them back to Mollusk Island not knowing that the starstuff was moved by Leonard Aster back to London but he's okay with that if he could get his hands on the flying boy.  Lord Ombra orders the boy left there as they return to London to search for the Asters but Peter has overheard their plans and stowsaway to warn Molly.  In his hurry to rescue Molly, however, he forgot the small detail of having no idea where she lives in London and London is a very big city.  His problems will not be over, even once he finds Molly because Ombra is searching for her and her family and will stop at nothing to find them in order to find the starstuff before the Return.

The boys and I really enjoyed the first book but this one really dragged at the beginning so it took months for them to get into it so I could read it to them.  About half way through, it picked up and then they couldn't get enough of it.  Ombra is seriously creepy and the thing he does with taking people's shadows and thus turning them into his puppets is not for the faint of heart.  I gave the boys the option of doing something different now that we are done with this but they can't wait to start the 3rd book in the series so I guess after a slow start, this has definitely redeemed itself.

Page count: 556p/24,126p ytd/205,164p lifetime