Another Pan

Another #2

by Daniel Nayeri, Dina Nayeri

Sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling and her insecure freshman brother, John, are hitting the books at the Marlowe School. But one tome consumes their attention: THE BOOK OF GATES, a coveted Egyptian artifact that their professor father believes has magical powers. Soon Wendy and John discover that the legend is real—when they recite from its pages and descend into a snaking realm beneath the Manhattan school. As the hallways darken, and dead moths cake the floor, a charismatic new R.A. named Peter reveals that their actions have unleashed a terrible consequence: the underworld and all its evil is now seeping into Marlowe. Daniel Nayeri and Dina Nayeri return to reimagine Peter Pan as a twisty, atmospheric, and fast-paced fantasy about the perils of immortality.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Paranormal, Supernatural, Mythology, Urban Fantasy

393 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2010

About the author

Daniel Nayeri is a writer and editor in New York City. He wrote and produced The Cult of Sincerity, the first feature film to be world-premiered by YouTube. He has had all kinds of jobs around books, including book repairman, literary agent, used bookstore clerk, children's librarian, Official Story-Time Reader Leader, editor, copy-editor, and even carpenter (making bookshelves). He's also a professional pastry chef. He loves Street Fighter 2, hates the word "foodie," and is an award-winning stuntman.

Daniel and his sister/co-writer Dina were both born in Iran and spent many young adult years in Europe. There they learned several languages between them and tried Frosted Flakes for the first time.

Reviews

[Wendy Darling]

It's kind of fun to have someone read your "name" back at you. :D

[Maelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

As soon as I picked this book up, I couldn't wait to read it. The story seemed good, and really, who could ever go wrong with a "remake" of Peter Pan? Apparently Nayeri can.

It's not that the story was horrible, because it wasn't. It had potential, a lot of potential. However, all I could think of while reading that book was that my little sister could've written this (and I don't think my sister ever read a book).

The writing wasn't good. It wasn't horrible, but it bothered me. It simply wasn't good. And the whole book seemed like a first draft that was never edited - which I honestly think it was.
Plus, none of the caracther was likebale. I don't mind a few caracthers with a bad personnality, as long as I love one of them. However, in that book, the only personnage that didn't annoy me was Connor, who probably had about 3 lines.
I also hated how slow that book - and caracthers- was. I figured things in the first chapter that took them a whole book to figure out. And the book was slow. So, so very slow. There was absolutely no intrigue. No chemistry between caracthers.

I wouldn't recommend that book to anyone. The only reason I finished that book was that I didn't want to waste money and kept hoping it would magically become good (it didn't.)

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to give it to Daniel and Dina Nayeri, they have really impressed me with their creative ability when it comes to retelling classic stories. First with Another Faust and now taking the well known Peter Pan and making it their own. I'm a huge fan of the classics so I usually love a good retelling and Another Pan was no exception.

When Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, old Egyptian curses and lore, and a posh New York school are combined, readers will find themselves in for an incredible adventure. One of my favorite elements in this story was the attraction and chemistry between Wendy Darling and Peter (a new resident advisor at Marlowe). In the classic this pairing is hinted at but never actualized so it was fun to see the take the Nayeri's took on this. What girls wouldn't fall for Peter right? He's charming, handsome and incredible witty and Wendy falls hook, line and sinker for him. His obsession with eternal youth seems to be his only downfall.

While I enjoyed Wendy and Peter's interaction, her brother John did at times bother me. His humor and slang became somewhat irksome and I must admit he was not a favorite character of mine. But the lost boys did make up for my lack of enthusiasm over John Darling. Their texting of "happy thoughts" and their overall part in the story had me smiling a good bit of the way through.

While this book was the second in the Another series, I don't think that it's necessary to read Another Faust first. Some of the original characters pop up and make reappearances in this installment but this story is very must a stand alone. It was full of adventure, romance, difficult quests and hard decisions and it was so much fun to be taken on the ride. I think for the most part old fans of the original classic will not be dissapointed for insulted, as is sometimes the case with retellings. I can't wait to see what's next in the Another series.

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, no, no , NO! I loved Pan as a little girl. I used to dream about the boy who refused to grow up. And him and Wendy, I used to love to think that they were perfect for each other. Now that I am 14 years old, I have abandoned my Peter Pan bedding and wallpaper but still have my Tinker Bell mural hanging proudly on my wall. Why I am telling you this? What does this have to do with the book? IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE BOOK! I was in the library and I stumbled upon this novel. I thought, ohmygod, it's a Peter Pan story appropriate for my age. And it's set in the modern times. Perfect? NO!

I've never read Another Faun, I didn't even know that there was a book before this one. So I didn't know what to expect. What I didn't expect was for the authors to ruin my favourite characters! The idea of the Egyptian curses was pretty cool. And it was interesting to see how that played out. I even liked the setting, Marlowe school and I thought okay, this is a modern story, not bad. But then my chracters, my favourite characters since I was little destroyed in the pages of this book. Um, hell no!



First of all, before I even start to rant, WHERE WAS TINKERBELL????? She was supposed to be a main role - wasn't she? Ugh, that alone got me angry. All of the characters, Wendy, Peter and John were all supposed to be happy and full of depth and personality. Something tells me neither of the authors have read the actual tales of Peter Pan (or saw the Disney movie) because they were far from that. Wendy Darling, the girl I always wanted to be for her self-respect and girl power was a whiny stuck-up brat. She had no concern for anything that didn't affect her. Where was the loving, sweet girl I loved?

And Peter Pan, the absolute main character was ... terrible. He was mean, he was bossy an he was so self-centered that I just couldn't stand reading another page of him. Now, I wasn't expecting him to be wearing neon green tights and grabbing Wendy to help him look for his shadow but this Peter which the authors gave us was just horribly wrong.

The romance sucked big time. No previous tension. No sparks. No love. It was undeveloped and just there, which did nothing for the story. Even the Disney movie had more romance than this book!

So, I hated the characters. ALL OF THEM! I couldn't even enjoy a romance, that's how terribly developed it was. And even though I thought that the Egyptian curse was pretty cool and it was interesting how it was put into the tale, I couldn't bring myself to give the book even 2 stars. Am I being biased? Heck yeah! But I don't care.

It could have been a great book but making me hate the characters just turned me off.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't really sure I was going to like "Another Pan" considering that I wasn't really a huge fan of "Another Faust", and because the story of Peter Pan is so dear to my heart and unfortunately has been redone completely wrong so many times before.

But "Another Pan" is a completely different story. The story continues to take place in the Marlowe School, and the evil governess Vileroy returns to the school. A few unimportant characters from the first novel also reappear in this second novel. Connor Wirth is dating protagonist Wendy Darling, and there was a small mention of Mrs. Spencer at a charity event, but really, the book is a completely different story, and you don't even need to read the first book in order to enjoy "Another Pan". (Although, I would recommend reading the first book at some point! I know it was a really popular read with some of my fellow bloggers)

I LOVED the book. It's definitely in my top 5 favorite books that I have read so far this year. I've been completely obsessed with the story of Peter Pan for as long as I can remember. As a child it was my first ever favorite book and the story has stuck with me my entire life. As I said before, I find that most people get the story wrong and I can go on an endless rant about that. But I feel that Daniel and Dina really understand the original story well.

Of course this isn't your typical Peter Pan type of story... but instead the book just holds a strong likeness to the original story with a huge Egyptian mythical influence. Peter is obsessed with staying young, and is forever chasing Egyptian legends in order to obtain eternal youth. Just like the Peter in the original stories, he is childish, self centered and simply doesn't care about anything but the adventures ahead of him. He has a huge following of misfit boys across the world called LB's (Short for Lost Boys) who do his bidding without questioning him. Just like the Peter in the original tale, he can't be bothered to remember their names, so he gives them nicknames, or refers to them as a number. Whenever Peter would get upset, the LB's would gather their happy thoughts, and text them to Peter and it would have a calming effect of him, which I loved!

I loved the chemistry between Peter and Wendy. It was dead on. Daniel and Dina hit the nail on the head! Peter was playful and sometimes even charming while around Wendy, and of course she falls for him instantly. Maybe because he's good looking, or because she can't resist his charm, or perhaps it's the adventure. Either way, Wendy fell for him, and I think that it's possible that she may be Peter's ultimate happy thought. Oh and I can't forget about John! His street slang had me laughing out loud!

Overall, the story is full of adventure! I loved the 5 Egyptian legends that led the characters on their dangerous missions in the underworld at the Marlowe School. The most important thing about this book that made me love it was the familiarities of my favorite childhood story! It was kind of like hearing the story all over again for the first time!

[Dark Faerie Tales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Myth, fairy tale, contemporary high school drama, and the paranormal combine in a fast-paced and chilling adventure through space and time.

Opening Sentence: All nights come to an end–that is to say, all nights see the break of day.

The Review:

By far my favorite of the Another series for several reasons. Daniel and Dina Nayeri built on the first book of the series but added so much more. Familiarity with the story of Peter Pan definitely added to the enjoyment of this book. The authors were able to take a basic storyline, combine it with their original premise, and turn it into something that is everything the first book was missing. The characters are much more believable, there is mortal peril, and in general, there is just a lot more going on to keep the reader entertained. This book can stand alone apart from the series without losing much understanding, but because there are actual, but somewhat vague, references to the Egyptian myth in Another Faust, the plot for Another Pan seems to make more sense as a whole as part of the series. Although this book was longer in pages, it was a page-turner and did not take long to read.

Peter is, as he should be, the intriguing character of this book. He is so charismatic that he even has an actual following of lost boys, plus Tina, who is loyal to a fault and comes complete with a envy of Wendy. Peter is updated to modern times, and has a fancy cell phone to prove it. He, along with the other characters, is surprisingly believable, even given his youthful demeanor. Although Peter seems perhaps more selfish than he does in the fairy tale, his own upbringing by his “nanny” make his situation seem especially plausible. And this slightly darker version of Peter just seems to fit right into this slightly darker fairy tale of a book.

Wendy and John have some serious flaws, not damning flaws as we saw with the teenagers in Another Faust, but regular, trying to fit in, trying to find romance, trying not to be too nerdy, regular teenager flaws that any and all teenagers have and therefore, we all can relate to. They are also wishing for something more exciting, a way to escape the mundane high school problems, and they find exactly that. What really drives the book is their eagerness to please someone they both look up to as a hero, to the point that they make some pretty stupid choices, just to be a part of something rebellious and fun. Their relationship with their father is definitely relatable and realistic. He is the opposite of cool and the opposite of rebellion, and his children suck up just enough to not get in serious trouble, but go behind his back at every turn. The only part I found slightly annoying is that Wendy and John’s last name is actually Darling and a lot of attention was drawn to that, which made me wish the connection was just a little toned down in that aspect.

In addition to the Peter Pan premise, and keeping in line with Madame Vileroy, who turns out to have many personas and goes by several names, the authors have thrown in a series of Egyptian myths, which miraculously, actually fit into the rest of the story line without compromising the integrity of the rest of the book. Everyone’s past and how they fit into the storyline is explained by the end of the book, which just makes the reader feel like they were a part of this adventure. Everything goes so well together, this time the well-educated authors create something that is delightful for teens and adults alike. There is definitely a creepiness factor to this book. Still not too creepy, but a little creepier than the first book in the series, Another Faust. Without giving anything away, especially the part where the hook comes in, this book gets pretty creepy but without trying too hard. That’s mostly just how Another Pan is in general, it is just superb how the authors did so much without making it seem like it is trying to hard.

Notable Scene:

Wendy and John turned back down the all, toward the exit. as they crept quietly along, Wendy’s eyes kept darting back and forth, trying to spot the source of that feeling of almost being touched. Suddenly, in the shadowy far end of the dark hall, a hooded figure seemed to appear. Someone small, a woman or a girl, glided into their line of vision gracefully, like a witch, then just as quickly disappeared into one of the classrooms. Before the phantom was gone, Wendy thought she saw her turn, and she glimpsed a broken blue eye–like one she thought she had seen somewhere before . . . but where? Maybe on TV? Or on someone she had forgotten, someone unremarkable and small . . . someone easily forgettable in the course of her important daily routines. An eye not quite human. The sight of it made all the blood in Wendy’s body go ice cold, full of jagged edges pricking from the inside. She wanted to scream, but she held back. They stumbled backward into the main corridor toward the barricaded door.

FTC Advisory: Candlewick Press provided me with a copy of Another Pan. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[snowplum · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you read my comments on Another Faust, you'll see that I thought the Nayeri siblings had a number of great ideas but were not able to solve one significant psychological flaw in the book. I was excited to read Another Pan because I find the original Pan tale more compelling than the original Faust, and because I figured that there was a good chance the authors had learned and grown and would create an overall better work.
Sadly... no.
There are a handful of intriguing ideas in this book, but where Faust was flawed but compelling, Pan is a huge mess with several insurmountable problems.
First of all, I understand that when modernizing fairy tales, you can choose to keep plot elements and/or characters and/or setting and/or theme, etc. Finding some unique combination of what to keep and what to change and how to change it is essential. But Another Pan scraps EVERYTHING charming and powerful about the original story. Making the characters teenagers opens the door to all the flaws in this book.
The original Pan characters are children. Some of them have suffered and some are precocious, and not all of their actions are childlike -- but they are fundamentally innocent. Their awareness of themselves and their motivations is essentially childlike -- limited and sometimes confused, and sometimes certain and yet completely wrong. Wendy loves the idea of being a mama, and the fact that Peter and the Lost Boys need a mama is poignant and innocent. Another Pan's Wendy is just an average teenage girl with an average crush on a bad boy, who is, in that context, psychologically quite average as well. Furthermore, for a small child to love childhood and want to stay a child forever means something completely different than for a teenager with a teenager's perspective and understanding of the world not to want to grow OLD. Everything endearing about the psychology of the original Pan is obliterated by the mundane commonalities of adolescence.
Then we get ancient Egypt and bonedust involved. Okay... This ends up coming across as random as opposed to thoughtfully complex, finding interesting connections across time and mythologies. It's the like the authors rolled plot and setting dice and got "Peter Pan" and "Ancient Egypt" and went with it but never actually made the connection feel meaningful. The source of immortality is bitterness? Not a very appealing notion.
Heap on top of that the fact that the authors fast forward through any scene between two characters that could have had any depth and give you basically zero details about any conversation or interaction, and there's just nothing to hold onto in the whole book.
A huge disappointment and definitely not a recommendation from me.

[Katie O'Sullivan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to give any book this low of a rating - I know what it takes to actually finish a manuscript and get it through the process of becoming a book.

But.

I want to warn anyone who picks this up thinking it'll be a cool retelling of the Peter Pan legend we all know and love. If you like/love/know the story of Peter Pan, you will be disappointed in this book and the characters Mr. Nayeri has turned them into.

I did read this whole book, and I kept waiting for it to redeem itself. It never did.

First let me say I didn't have a problem with the Egyptian curse twist to the storyline, or some of the added plot twists like Mrs. Darling having run off with a grad student. Or the modern day setting in an exclusive New York prep school. I had a little bit of a problem with the writing style itself as it seemed over-written and old fashioned.

My biggest problem with this story is that there isn't a single likeable character, and that Mr. Nayeri took well-loved, time-tested characters and totally ignored why they were likeable.

Wendy is supposed to be a strong, independent spirit, the embodiment of early girl power. The author has made her into a 16-year-old girl who doesn't know her own heart, who questions the motives and feelings of everyone around her as well as her own, and who is so self-absorbed in her own internal drama that she's totally unlikeable.

Her little brother John is smart, but also so totally self-absorbed and starved for "popularity" that he can't connect with anyone. His lame attempts at making friends with the cardboard cutouts of popular kids don't ring true in the slightest.

And Peter. He is painted as a selfish, bossy, dictatorial leader of a world-wide organization of miscreant "LBs" or Lost Boys - who steal, cheat, and create all kinds of major crime around the globe. He's an underworld crime lord with no redeeming qualities. He has no fun in his soul, nor any sparkle in his eye. And his sidekick, the feisty but unmagical "Tina" is an extremely poor stand-in for Tinkerbell.

I kept thinking, At least there will be redeeming romance. Nope. At least Peter will do the right thing in the end. Nope. At least someone will realize something that will change their life or their character. Another big nope.

There are other Peter Pan books out there that are better retellings. Find one of those. Or read the original. Save yourself the heartache of this disappointing story.

[Marina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly only made it to page 36 before I stopped reading. I've always been a huge fan of Peter Pan, so I was very excited about reading this book, but right away it just came off as someone writing and suddenly thinking, "oh, I think I'll add Peter Pan into this story" when they were on final editing. after page 36 I just skimmed the rest of the book and yes, Peter is an arrogant, selfish person, but from everything that i skimmed the authors made him come across as a comepletely ass, and when he was "charming" Wendy it seemed more like an abusive relationship were he tricked her into thinking he was right and had her smiling like a complete idiot. And the whole egyptian crap??? Please, how can someone honestly think that egyptian legend can be tied to Peter Pan??? And John! I wanted to punch him in the face! He was like a victim of peer pressure and trying to come across like a bad boy, which was just stupid on his part. I really hoped it would be up to my expectations, but it just didn't

[Raven · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had one redeeming factor and that was the Egyptian mythology.

It was the only thing that kept me going. I wanted to know what happened to the mummies. And honestly... I'm still not entirely sure.

Everything else was tedious and obnoxious. I didn't like Peter one bit, which was not the point of the Peter Pan story, Honestly, an element was lost by not having Tink's character be an actually fairy.

Also this is the second time the same villain has been defeated and yet has not died. How many more fairy tales has this psycho corrupted?!

I will most definitely not be reading the rest of the series.

[Hardly · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started at 5 stars and lost stars as I went along. Love Peter Pan, love egyptology...thought the blend would be great. Not so much. Don't waste your time.

[Abby Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

Facepalm. Oh boy. This book... Well, the only fitting word I can think of to describe it is sucks.

Early on, when I was starting to realize I wasn't enjoying this as much as I wanted to be, I was hoping this would turn out to be one of those "Well, it's not good but it's got such-and-such merits, it's finishable, and if you're interested in the genre, you should read it anyway," type fares.

But it's not even that...

What's most frustrating is WHAT sucks about it. There are several points that I feel, had this gotten further drafts, could have been resolved WELL BEFORE publication.

The writing itself is (usually) not that bad -- it's readable, with (overall) decent flow, yet I still wouldn't describe reading it as pleasurable. Not even in a TV-in-your-head kind of way. I actually have something important to say about the writing style of this, and why I think it doesn't work, but I'm going to swing back to that at the end of this review, so please bear with me until then.

Anywho, I fully intended NOT to leave this as a DNF. MOST of my DID NOT FINISH books exist sorely because of a little thing called DUE DATES that libraries so rudely insist upon my honoring. But lately I haven't been near a local public library so the books I've been reading I've either had given to me, found, or outright bought. So the fact that I OWN this book made me feel obligated to complete it, as there was no hurry. I could take as long with it as I needed. However, I was having a more and more miserable time slogging through this, when I suddenly looked over my shoulder at the little stack near by bed. There are three books there -- Terry Goodkind's Pillar's of Creation, Beautiful Redemption, and Seeds of Yesterday by V.C. Andrews (literally her, not her ghost-writer, mind you). And a thought crosses my mind. "Oh, good LORD, I could be actually be wrapping up my long-time reads of the Dollenganger Saga and the Caster Chronicles or enjoying a book by the author of Wizard's First Rule, and I'm wasting my life on this drivel!" So I gave in and made it a DNF. To be fair, however, I read MOST of this clunker -- I really gave it my all and got pretty far in, considering what I had to contend with. And just to illustrate that...just HOW BAD this was... Remember my complaint about Beautiful Chaos? and how much I loathed Jane, for being a crap feminist retelling of the old Tarzan books? BOTH of those are better than this. I kid you not.

So now I'm going to break down how this Peter Pan retelling went so very, very wrong.

1) lack of ability to make two very different themes mesh properly. It's all well and good, and even exciting, to announce you're the first to combine J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan with Egyptian Mythology, but a serious writer either finds a way to do this seamlessly or admits defeat and tries something else before turning this out on the unsuspecting public. The "seams" on this thing are so big they could be seen from space. It's not a cool combination so much as an ugly Frankenstein monster that makes you angry at the authors (yes, there are two of them) for playing God and unleashing this...thing...on innocent people who never did them any harm.

I was hoping for an AU of Peter Pan kind of set in a High School version of "The Mummy" or a "Darling Children starring in The Kane Chronicles". What I got is a laborious book about two children whose last names are Darling (that's right FREAKING TWO, just Wendy and John, no Michael to be found -- here's an idea, authors, since you made Mrs. Darling abandon them, why not write in that she took Michael, since he was the baby of the family, with her or something?) with lame-o high school issues that override everything and their R.A. who wants to be young forever and for some reason comes across more like Sternum from Moody's Point than Peter Pan.

And reading about it is just painful. These kids are so wrapped up in their petty "poor, poor me" crap problems to an extent that even the most self-absorbed teenager in the world would find excessive. John thinks about nothing but his lack of popularity and trying to 'revamp' his image; Wendy thinks about nothing besides her boyfriend(s) and her absent mom and her 'pathetic' father. Even when they discover magic is freaking REAL their reaction is so forced one gets the feeling they still care more about their social woes than ANYTHING ELSE HAPPENING AROUND THEM. It's like, dudes, there's a bloody gate to the UNDERWORLD in your school, wake the (bleep) UP already!

There is NOTHING of the original characters in them.

Which brings me to my next point: 2) the characters. I don't think these authors GET what makes A.U. versions of classic characters in another setting WORK or appeal to the fans of said classics.

So let me give a rundown here.

You may or may not recall that a few years ago in the Narnia fandom, there was a trend of setting up an Alternate Universe, sometimes set in a pseudo-medieval Narnia, sometimes in a modern high school setting, sometimes in a 1940s setting, and making a complex love story retelling out of it. Usually these stories featured a non-related version of Lucy and Edmund Pevensie as the main protagonists/couple with the odd Eustace/Jill or Digory/Polly (or, depending on the set up, Peter/Susan, also unrelated) romance as side-players. I recall this because I WROTE many of those stories and furthered that trend for a while. It was a fun writing exercise. But do you know what made those stories WORK, what made people suspend their disbelief long enough to read them? What made people hit that alert button and come back for multiple chapters as I posted them?

It's really very simple. It wasn't perfect writing (I was still learning!), it wasn't gimmicks or shock value, and you know what it REALLY wasn't? It wasn't just a bunch of characters with the same NAMES as the kids in C.S. Lewis' books running around acting like out of character brats. What made it work, even when my writing wasn't at its smoothest, or most refined, was the fact that Lucy was still Lucy, and Edmund was still Edmund. The setting may have changed, their life experiences might have differed from the books and films the fanfictions were based on, but the core personality traits were undeniably those of the characters people had already loved for years. THAT IS WHAT MADE IT WORK.

It would have been the easiest thing in the world to simply call a character Lucy, and throw in a "Spare Room" or "C.S. Lewis" reference the way the authors of Another Pan had the "Barrie auditorium, but my readers would have smelled a rat, gotten bored after a couple chapters, and that would have been that. Those references are FUN, but they're the ICING on the cake, not the cake itself! Overloading that with no backing no actual 'feel' of the original with your own spin on it is just a cheap gimmick, and it gets old fast.

And that's all the authors did here. Wendy has NOTHING in common with the Wendy of Barrie's book and play. There isn't even a sense of wonder, or a kind of grown-up-ness she's fighting despite herself, she's just the average dumb teen with average dumb teen problems. John's even worse. He has no personality aside from being the "geek kid who wants in". This isn't "The Clique"; high school story or not, this isn't what I came here for. And I don't think it's what other readers who loved Peter Pan were looking for either. And the side characters. Good God. Mr. Darling gets the biggest shaft of the lot. You know what would have been fun? Having a Mr. Darling with a messed up sense of humor or a temper problem like the original, or connecting him to Hook somehow (as a callback to the theater tradition of Hook and Mr. Darling being played by the same actor). Even having Nana in the story and having him interact with the family dog instead of mopping around like a loser would have been better. George Darling REALLY isn't the ideal character to turn into the absent minded professor type, either. In Barrie's book he just didn't have that creative a mind; he was merely a guy who loved his family, was very money driven, extremely penny-pinching, and prided himself on having respect above all else. He would NEVER let his children treat him the way Wendy and John treat his counterpart here, with indulgent distain. For him, that would be a huge, no-no. And Mrs. Darling isn't the type who would just leave her family because she got bored, either, there really needed to be a better reason. This just felt like bad name drops. There's more to being Peter Pan than wanting to live forever.

In fact, if you think about it, J.M. Barrie's Peter DOESN'T want to live forever, and he isn't mortified of dying -- just of growing up. The reason he doesn't stay with Wendy and the lost boys at one point when they are ready to grow up is the thought that one day he might reach up and feel a beard on his face. The thought horrifies him. Death does not. He thinks to die would be a great adventure. He just wants to die young, not old. They got that (the desire for youth) down-pat with this Peter, but there was too much interest on his part concerning immortality in and of itself that just felt untrue to him.

3) the Mythology is lazy as hell. They don't even use actual mythology. They made up their own story and called it a series of "lost myths". It's horrible.

Now, I'll swing back around to the writing, as I promised. It's adequate. It describes what the characters are doing, and why, but it's always on the nose and there's no sparkle to it. I'm going to invoke fanfiction here once again. Have you ever read a fanfic that clearly didn't want you distracted from the action and so wrote everything out ad nauseam like an over-detailed, but soulless, movie script? Or a fanfic that clearly was brilliant once but suffered, plainly, from having too many betas edit it and the author letting them tear it to pieces to "read easier"? Then you'll have a general idea of what reading this book was like. I couldn't always tell that Another Faust, the proceeding book to this one, had two authors, because it was well-meshed up until the lousy ending (which was my only gripe with that book). This one, with its on-point descriptions of actions and painful robot dialogue, you can't miss that this was a group project of sorts.

So this is a big thumbs down from me.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has such a crazy cover! It really looks like it would be a dreadfully bad romance. There is romance, but this story is more of an Indiana Jones meets Harry Potter meets Teenage Prep-school series. The story focuses on Wendy and John Darling, who are the teenage offspring of aging, absent-minded Professor Darling, disgraced Egyptologist and headmaster of the Marlowe school where Wendy and John are students. Poor Wendy and John must deal with ostracism and the scorn of their wealthy classmates who know that the Darlings live in a house paid for by the school's endowment. This belittling is most keenly felt by Wendy's 13 year old brother John, who is new to the school, and desperate to change his geeky image. Meanwhile, Wendy, who has snagged the school's star athlete as her boyfriend continuously tries to convince herself that she is in-love with Connor Wirth, when in actuality she is beginning to be a bit bored by his all-around goodguyness. As for Professor Darling, he's pretty much on the periphery for most of the book (appropriate for the parent character in a YA book)except for being the reason the school will be hosting an important Egyptian exhibit that unbeknown to all and sundry, is the temporary home (in one of the artifacts) of an evil spirit referred to as "the dark lady."

Enter, bad-boy Peter, who has followed the Egypt exhibit to Marlowe. He quickly insinuates himself into Marlowe as the boarding boy's new RA. He and his gang of LB's (lost boys) take over the local gang of rich-boy miscreants, all eager to become his stooges and do his bidding. Their first task is to get closer to "the book of gates" which Peter has been pursuing for decades. This precious book is the key for Peter to find the legendary five mummy's who's bodies, when combined and consumed by the finder will grant eternal life.

The character's motivations are what's most interesting and move the story forward quite nicely. Wendy wants the excitement of dating a dangerous boy, while at the same time, doesn't want to copy the hurtful actions of her frivolous mother who left the family for a younger man. John wants to find a hero who he can emulate and find acceptance with. Peter wants eternal life (like Barrie's Pan, he has a dreaded fear of growing old.) These three get together and help Peter in his mummy quest, leading them into an underground world that has attached itself to the Marlowe school. Minor characters are also well-drawn and have their own motivations to add. Peter's friend Tina loves him unconditionally. While Peter dallies with Wendy, Tina remains faithful and in the end is a key character in saving everyone's butts.

This is a great adventure with romance, danger, and Egyptian mythology. (The five legends are nicely told, and add nicely incorporated touches to enhance their authenticity. As far as I know, they are completely made up for the story.)This book is much more than a bad romance and will engage anyone (boy or girl)who is brave enough to venture past the cover.

[Chapter by Chapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read Another Pan I was so excited because of the terms that Another Faust left off on. While at first, before I even read the synopsis and I had just been staring at (yet again) another beautiful cover, I was wondering why is was titled Another Pan. Pan? Pan?! As in frying pan?

No... Pan as in Peter Pan! Like the Disney movie with the kid in green tights! Of course the Nayeri duo gave a new twist to the story of Peter Pan adding in a mix dark magic, romance and Egyptian history. I have to say that Another Pan didn't disappoint me, but I do wish it had that same flare that Another did. Perhaps it was because I simply hated reading things that came from John Darling's POV (Point of View and yes they kept the original names from the original story) because he seemed just so immature and I for one know that most teenagers are a bit more mature than the way he was portrayed (to me he sounded like a spoiled nine year old).

Gladly the novel kept up at the same pace as it's predecessor Another Faust and gave us a new view on the dark governess Nicola Vileroy, I enjoyed being able to learn a bit more about who she really is and how she came to be such a dark and evil woman. However, I also found myself falling for Peter Pan (even though it took me such a long time to stop envisioning him as a red headed boy with tights and gapped teeth), the new R.A. At Marlowe school who is on a quest to create his immortal cocktail which, you guessed it, grants immortality. Did I forget that he also manages to capture the heart of Wendy Darling?

The plot itself was intriguing and had me dying to keep on reading, I would end up biting my fingernails in worry as the group encountered a new trial in the labyrinth to obtain the strange “bone dust” that Peter needs to create his immortal cocktail. I know that I personally fell in love with the moment that the Darlings and Peter team came across the Book of Gates, how the old text held so many secrets and became a major key point in the plot itself.

As for the characters, I feel like the novel really got into the personal needs of each characters, much like Another Faust. Wendy Darling seemed a lot more intent on taking care of the well being of her family while also trying to work out the kinks in her relationship with Peter which is both illegal and well...he's a bit too obsessed with immortality. Like I said with John Darling, he had the potential to be a really likeable character and at certain times he was, but half the time he seemed to whiny and like a snobby brat. As for Peter Pan, well he was perfect in almost every aspect and again like I said he was just a bit too obsessed with becoming an immortal.

Still the novel did deliver and for that I'm glad. It had so many unexpected twists,romantic 'awww' moments and an ending that has you excited for the next and I believe final novel in the series (oh no!). Can't wait for Another Jekyll, Another Hyde and if you loved Another Faust you'll love it's sequel.

[Nely · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must say that Daniel & Dina Nayeri are very talented in recreating well-known classic stories. First with Another Faust and now with Another Pan they were able to showcase how talented they really are in giving these classic tales a more modern spin. As a fan of fairytale and classic remakes this definitely appealed to my senses.

You'll recognize all the characters in this story - Peter, the Lost Boys, Wendy and John Darling - yep, they're all in there. Now combine those characters with Egyptian curses, a posh New York school, and you'll find yourselves on a whole new adventure.

I must admit that I was not a fan of Another Faust - I read it and, sadly, I did not like it. So when I heard of Another Pan, I decided to give the Nayeri's one more chance at winning me over. While there were many aspects of the novel that I did enjoy - the romance between Peter and Wendy, the modern-ness of the whole thing, I loved that the Lost Boys would text "happy thoughts", even the mystery of the The Book of Gates and how it played into the storyline - I still did not fall for this book... and I'll explain why. Firstly, it started off really slow. I mean I was 100 pages in and it was still very slow for me. Secondly, I really liked Wendy as a character - she was strong, faithful, she had charisma, was quirky and I really liked that she stood her ground when she believed in something. This is the Wendy you meet for the first half of the book. Somewhere along the way we lose that Wendy. For the second half of the book I found her to be whiny, she forgets about her wishes, dreams, etc. and somehow her thoughts only revolve around Peter... this really annoyed me. I hate that girls will drop everything at the drop of a hat for a guy... ugh. Then there was John Darling - my gosh that boy was driving me insane. He used too much slang and was just too annoying for his own good.

I loved the idea of this book. The premise was fantastic- and the Peter Pan-ness of it was what really seduced me into reading it. But in the end it just didn't work for me.

For those of you wondering - this is the second book in Daniel & Dina Nayeri's "Another" series. The first being Another Faust. Some of the characters from Another Faust make cameo appearances and the school where Wendy and John go to is the same one (Marlowe) from Another Faust as well - but that's where the similarities end. So, no, you do not have to read Another Faust in order to enjoy Another Pan.

[Courtney (Fuzzy.Coffee.Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Marlowe books are retellings of well-known stories, Another Pan being a retelling of Peter Pan. I love Peter Pan, and this was my first re-telling of that classic, so I was excited to get into it.

What I Liked: 1) Peter Pan. It's Peter Pan! Who doesn't love Peter Pan? 2) Instead of following the pattern of Peter Pan as we know it, the authors tied it together with a Greek myth, which is how they brought the Marlowe School into it. This whole story is very unique and will keep you guessing until the very surprising ending. 3) The appearance of some old friends from Another Faust. I wasn't sure that we'd see that, but I was glad too. It was very interesting to incorporate him into this world, because it seemed that since the end of Another Faust, the Marlowe School had reinvented itself. 4) Wendy and John Darling. I especially liked John. Poor kid, he's going through this phase where he just wants to reinvent himself, and nothing seems to work. I really felt for him, and could completely understand that awkward phase he was in. 5) Happy thoughts. This is one of the biggest parts of the Peter Pan tale, and I really loved how it was translated into this story.

What I Didn't Like: Some of the characterizations were a little weak. It was hard to get to know some of them because they were a little too flat for my taste. Which, if anyone is wondering, is not what I found in Another Faust, so it isn't typical of these authors. I think maybe the plot was just so involved this time that after Wendy, Peter and John, everyone else was secondary. Even their relationships weren't very strong. Wendy was very protective of John, but everyone else just kind of revolved around each other without really touching. Wendy supposedly develops this thing for Peter, but that's just...not even insta-love. It never quite made it.

Overall thoughts: Daniel and Dina Nayeri's Another Pan was a creative and interesting re-telling of an old classic, Peter Pan. The plot drives the story forward, and readers will be surprised by the inclusion of an Egyptian myth to make the story fresh and new. The characterizations leave a little to be desired, but you know what they say. Just Think Happy Thoughts.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: A wonderfully paced and deliciously engaging retelling of Barry's "Peter Pan" that somehow, mysteriously, admirably, forces one to sip, not gulp, while still holding the reader's curious attention. This book has a stunning opening and unfolds in one tempting bit after another.



With witty little sections of interlude, this retelling delivers an interesting and artistic literary production. One will enjoy the enticing web of the injected twists and layers to this classic children's tale. Each legend is written in a sophisticated and extremely authoritative and believable diction and contributes brilliantly to the Egyptian twist of the retelling. Surprisingly, the siblings-author team makes the magic last for a "never-never" worthy amount of time, yet it still turns out to be an absolutely mind-blowing journey by the end!



This book will require patience and a bit of brain-work, as it is not just a take-and-go thrill ride (which may explain a lot of the negative reviews on this book from Goodreads.). I was glad that I took the time to look past smaller areas that lacked satisfaction, such as the slightly shallow romance and the minimal character development. The writing and deeper content itself was fantastic, and the capturing of the magical nuances of the tale was executed very well.



Instead of a chunk of filling chocolate, I thought of this book as something smaller, more of a delicacy that may not be immediately sweet and enjoyable, but overall boasts an endearing and high-in-quality nature.



Ratings: ✰✰✰✰ 4 Impressed Hoots

Final Notes: I'd recommend this book to those of you who are able to give the time to make this slow journey. It took me 5 days to finish this one (when I usually finish a YA book in a day and a half at most.), and it wasn't because I lost interest in it.



If you're looking for a highly entertaining rollercoaster, then unfortunately, you'll be disappointed. I'm warning off like that because I really hope others will see and feel what I thought about the diction and moral stories in this one because it really deserves better.

Thanks for reading!
♡ Vivian

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Pan is the sequel to Another Faust, which I read, probably, close to 9 years ago now, so it's a good thing there isn't much story overlap!

Another Pan is a rather cluttered re-imagining of Peter Pan, set in a modern boarding school for wealthy and smart children, while also simultaneously attempting to explain the mechanics of the villain from the previous volume.
The Peter Pan parts really seemed to get lost in much of the inaccurate and muddled Egyptian-set myths - which also seemed to focus an awful lot on the biblical instances of Jews in Egypt? That part for me was rather frustrating to be honest. I would have enjoyed a more stable Pan retelling.

Not to say that I didn't enjoy this book. I thought it was a lot of fun for what it was. And I especially admire the way the Nayeris build characters, especially the villains and anti-heroes. They're genuinely unafraid of creating an unlikeable character. They present many characters with selfish ideals and, in the final hour, they are unrepentant. And that's what makes them interesting characters, their unwillingness to be good or nice.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I initially found this book, I was very excited about it. I adore anything Peter Pan related and could not wait to read this modern adaption with an Egyptian twist. Unfortunately, this book fell way below my expectations. The major problem I had with this book was the characters. I could not bring myself to like any of them. They were very superficial, lacked depth, and were not believable as people. The teenagers acted and talked how an adult would imagine them. Throughout the book Wendy is described as being smart and independent and I did not see any evidence of this. She was emotional, dim witted, and did everything Peter told her to do. John was extremely annoying and arrogant. Peter had to be the worst though. There was not a single redeeming quality about him and I felt no remorse for him despite the authors attempts to make me feel otherwise. The romance in this book also left much to be desired. I did not feel any connection between Wendy and Peter. Over all, the lack of character depth in this novel was its major flaw. This book was very disappointing.

[Gatorgal21 · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC
Another Pan is the second in the "Another Series" by Daniel and Dina Nayeri. Set in the same elite school in New York, called Marlowe, with the same manipulating,seemingly all powerful and all knowing antagonist; this book follows the dark and deadly story of Wendy and John Darling, who are students in Marlowe. When a new resident advisor, named Peter, comes to work at Marlowe, Wendy cannot help but be entranced by his beauty ,and his secrets. But as she learns some of those secrets, she and her brother John find themselves drawn into a terrifyingly dangerous quest all about the Egyptian lengends that their Father (a professor)had been studying for as long as they can rememeber.
Written in the same style and with the same quality as "Another Faust", "Another Pan" will definitely not disappoint fans of this budding series.
_Reviewed by Kathryn Taylor

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a note I did not read Another #1. I have to say that I really really enjoyed this book. Even though I hadn't read the first book in the series I found it easy to catch onto.

What I really enjoyed was the way that Nayeris made the story of Peter Pan their own. There were subtle hints about the original Peter Pan without it being a blatant rip off or doing it an "injustice".

I found the integration of Egypt folk lore and mythology with modern day children and teens to be the most amazing part. There was plenty of action, adventure and stories to keep any reader reading this novel.

Another great part of this book was the development of characters. I really felt as if I knew Wendy, John and Peter. While it took a little time it really felt nice to have such developed characters within a novel that weren't shallow and superficial.

Really creative and great novel.

[Tough Critic Book Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

In a hundred words or less:

Was very excited when I picked up this book. The modernization of a classic tale always catches my interest, but unfortunately this book was a disappointment. It takes a skilled writter to tell a story from many different perspectives in order for it to flow smoothly; however, this story did not. I felt detached from the characters and didn't even find them likable. I had difficulty even finishing it. This book had potential, but bottom line...It was poorly written.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very different interpretation on the story of Peter Pan [actually NOTHING like the original Pan that we all know and love] I enjoyed the storyline as far as it concerned Egyptian myths and legends, although it was not at all what I was expecting when I originally chose this book. I was not really a great fan of Peter's character in this, which was a bit disappointing considerig that I am a HUGE fan of Peter Pan - but, I will not let this book hinder my opinion on the character in general. :]

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish. I picked this one on audiobook because Katherine Kellgren was the narrator. Despite her skills, I couldn't get into this book. The characters were annoying and the story wasn't grabbing me..I realize now that it's the 2nd book in a series? That knowledge might have helped with the plot, but not the characters. Oh well.

[Stina Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, but it also leaves me with a lot of questions. About this book and the one before it, Another Faust.

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lame. Feels like the author is trying to hard to be young and hip. After reading peter and the starcatchers, I feel like I do not need a reboot for Peter Pan. BTW, I did not finish it.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forgot I had this book until I was rummaging around in my room. It was buried with a bunch of other books I need to look at/read/figure out where they're going next. I'll pass this one on to my grandnieces for them to read.

This is a retelling of a sort of Peter Pan, with Wendy Darling, her younger brother, John, and their father, George, who is a professor teaching at Marlowe School, a prestigious private school (I am assuming in New York but I frankly don't remember if the state was mentioned). George has been obsessed for years as an Egyptologist, following stories from The Book of Gates, which has a possible Goddess of the Dead rather than Anubis, a being known as Neferat.

Wendy has been dating the high school Good Guy, Connor, captain of the X-team (Lacrosse, I think?). Connor just exists to have a contrast with the new R.A. for one of the boys' halls, Peter, who is very handsome, very charismatic, and comes with a female R.A., Tina, of Latin descent. Peter has his LBs, a literally world-wide gang of teen boys who do whatever he asks, all identified by their missing upper left canine. Of course there are a batch of them at Marlowe, including Cornrow (a white kid with cornrowed hair), Poet (son of a famous rapper), and a few others.

Peter has been searching for the Book of Gates forever as it has the ability to grant him immortality - if he can gather together the bones of the five mummies listed in the stories in the book. Of course, there is more magic involved - one must use the book to open the gateways to the labyrinth which is directly under the building/area where the book is currently located. And one must face down a guardian to get to each mummy. And then there's Neferat, the Dark Lady, who isn't just haunting the underworld but has also manifested into the world of Marlowe, and is spreading despair, moths, and mold everywhere she goes.

This is an okay story. Some stuff was glossed over that should've been told as a story rather than retold as a memory - such as how the characters managed to escape one of the guardians. The ending was satisfying though.

I probably won't go looking for more of this series; I was interested in this one due to the Peter Pan tie-in.

[Malia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your typical rewrite of Peter Pan. If you think it is, bets are you won’t like it as much. The similarities are there, and they are very clever, but they’re not the main point of the story.
Instead, think of it like a story about Egyptian legends and gods, perfect for fans of Rick Riordan, who enjoy a modern Peter Pan twist.
Here are a few of the parallels:
Hook - or the Egyptian goddess of death in this case - is a woman, and far more evil than Captain Hook will ever be.
The crocodile, Simon Grin, “crocodile smile”, is slimy and conniving, and is a much bigger part in this story than the original. His watch is always ticking...
Wendy and John Darling are high school students at Marlowe, children of the erratic, obsessive Professor Darling.
And then there’s Peter, his sidekick Tina, and his band of LBs- Lost Boys, shortened for texting. ;)
Every chapter ends with a “Happy Thought” or “Recurring Thought”, helping us to better understand even the minor characters, in addition to the protagonists and even the villains.
So over all, a very thought out and clever story, but be careful going into it with too many expectations.

[Whatchyareading]

It’s of little surprise that a twenty-something in the early years of her career and graduate school would be really into Peter Pan stories. The concept of never growing up and old, living forever as a footloose and fancy free child or teen (depending on who is interpreting it) sounds just about fantastic every morning when my alarm is singing absurdly loudly for me to “Wake up, open your sleepy eyes, stretch out, make up the bed now…”. It’s times like these that Neverland, grand adventures, and a foe other than my overtly perky alarm would be very nice. So when the stream of Peter Pan movies came out a few years ago, I was hooked. The 2003 Peter Pan had me crying at the end chanting that “ I do believe in fairies, I do, I do.” The J. M. Barrie film Finding Neverland while interminably slow at times still enchanted me because I longed to be a part of that world. And when the official sequel to the play was written, Peter Pan in Scarlett, I had it signed and brought it home from England to my sister.

Therefore when WYR did our book birthdays for this month, the novel Another Pan by Daniel and Dina Naveri intrigued me. I wasn’t sure how a modern interpretation with teenagers 16 and up would work, but I was at least willing to try. The novel takes place at Marlowe Prep school, the same as the duo’s first book, Another Faust (which Christine reviewed). Having not read that one yet (though I definitely plan to now) I cannot speak to how similar they might be, but I think they are companion novels and reading one doesn’t demand that you read the other in order to understand it. The characters all share the same names that Pan fans know quite well: Wendy and John Darling, Peter, Tinkerbelle (Tina), the Lost Boys…they’re all there, just in a way you’ve never seen them before. At the beginning it seems as if their names were merely borrowed and you wonder why original names weren’t chosen instead. However as things progressed you could see how expertly the Naveri’s wove a very new version of Peter Pan while still borrowing the bones of the old.

The story itself is quite literally riveting. It tells the darker side of a never-ending search for eternal youth. Peter is not the mischievous but innocent boy we know. He’s an indeterminable late teen/early 20s guy who leads essentially an international crime ring of Lost Boys- some are orphans and some just feel like ones, but they are all ferociously loyal to Peter. He flits all over the world searching for the Book of Gates, an ancient Egyptian book of the dead that most Egyptologists to be a myth- all but one, Professor Darling. This brings Peter to Marlowe where an Egyptian exhibit is on loan from the British Museum, and Peter, his snarky tag-along Tina, and Wendy and John Darling collide. Peter needs the book in order to track down the bonedust of five mummies that will allow him to live forever, and being the children of an Egyptologist, Wendy and John know a thing or two about mummies. Together they open the gates to the underworld; letting it slip into their school as they sort through fact and legends, battle a few sand monsters, an evil nurse/ goddess of death, and the trials and tribulations of high school.

Now before you scoff and think this is a book version of a Brendan Frasier movie, you couldn’t be more wrong. The combined education credentials of the authors is evident in every page of the book, yet it never seems like a dry academic novel. You know they’re smart, you know they did their research, but at no point does that infringe on the sheer creativity and genius of the story. Instead the five Egyptian legends lure you in while the absolute normalcy (and subtle mocking) of the teen drama in the background keeps it firmly grounded in reality. That juxtaposition of the two is really what endears Another Pan to me. The novel is predominantly third person omniscient, almost to the point you could hear the narrator in your head (it sounded like the Peter Pan [2003] woman for me).

Yet the commentary on the times is priceless. John Darling is thirteen, a complete dork and determined to give himself an image overhaul before starting his first year at Marlowe. He attempts this by slowly renovating his online presence, particularly his Facebook. Now pop culture in books is rarely done well I feel, but this had me in stitches. For example, one status update has him insinuating he does drugs, another that he “popped a cap” last night, and of course this one:

“John Darling had a great time last night…but don’t ask for details cause she knows who she is and that’s all I’m gonna say about that,”

implying that the dorky-scrawny-online gaming-Egyptologist-in-training-thirteen-year-old was getting some serious action. Admit it, you know this kid. Wendy, his responsible and effortlessly popular older sister merely shakes her head and tries to get her new boyfriend to take him under his wing. Throughout the whole novel John is switching up his identify- trying on prepster, jock, thug, miscreant, adventurer, and Lost Boy and each is more fantastic than the last. He envies Peter for his confidence and fearlessness while at the same time it sets Wendy’s heart-a-flutter. You know it can’t end well, and that the classic Peter Pan means that his self-interest will triumph over everything, but his devil-may-care attitude keeps you turning the pages.

Between a Peter Pan story and Egyptology (totally my favorite part of Western Civ), I was a sucker for this book. I loved the way it was crafted as much as I did the story itself- which is a rarity. I highly recommend it, and while you may not be chanting about believing in Fairies at the end, you will be looking slant-eyed at anyone missing one incisor and wondering if the miscreant youths you encounter just might be Lost Boys.

Reviewed on WhatchYAreading on October 27, 2010.

[Melissa’s Bookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Pan is a creative retelling of the classic. All of the players are there (Wendy, John, the Lost Boys, etc.), but set in modern times. The twist is that Peter is in search of the bones of five mummies that if brought together will make him immortal. This is the second book involving the Marlowe High School. In this story, Egyptian artifacts from the British Museum are headed to the school. Prof. Darling is an expert in Egyptology and is overseeing the exhibit. When the Book of Gates, an ancient Egyptian book arrives in the collection, the Darling children discover that it opens a portal into the underworld. Wendy who falls hard for the handsome Peter and her genius brother decide to help Peter locate the bones of the five mummies, but they have to battle Lady Death herself at every turn.

It took some time to get into, and some of the book was a little repetitive, but I enjoyed this creative retelling and am looking forward to the next book in the series.