Rating: 5 stars

When a young boy with a kind heart sees his family crashing down around him -- his mother sunk into depression and his father leaving -- he decides that the only way to fix it is in the Anyplace. Raised in tales of the Anyplace and "The Boy," Paul Dear has a head filled with heroes and villains, pirates, pixies, and a snow tiger. He is convinced that he can help his family by finding what they lost in the Anyplace. When he comes across a treasure in a curio shop he manages to find his way into the Anyplace without dreaming and so sets off for adventure and the means to fix everything.

There's just one problem: the ever-changing nature of the Anyplace doesn't always agree with the plans of little boys, and "The Boy" doesn't like mothers. Why on earth would he help Paul Dear with his?

Through vicious sea battles, tests of will, the loss of a dear and true friend, and an enemy who just won't -- and seemingly can't -- die, Paul Dear and The Boy will find that though you may not want to, growing up sometimes happens anyway, even in the Anyplace.

Though this is nominally a story about Peter Pan, it isn't really, thus the appellation "The Boy". This is the story of Paul Dear and his adventures, fueled by the tales he's been told by his father from his earliest memory. Peter David has done an amazing job with the source material, writing in a very faithful style, yet still modern to readers of all ages. It isn't a story that is sweet and light throughout; it is difficult and honest in places, which makes it so overwhelmingly good. The author doesn't shy away but he is sensitive to the feelings of young readers and attempts to explain things as best he can, so that both parents and children can learn together.

This should most certainly become one for the ages.

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Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Pub. Date: June 2008
ISBN-13: 9780345501592