ALA Booklist (Mon Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

Returning to the Marlowe School, we meet Egyptology expert Professor Darling and his children, Wendy and John. Darling has spent his life trying to prove his theory about an ancient text, and his two children are helping their father ready the Egyptian artifacts for exhibition when they come across the secret that unlocks a frightening underworld maze where myths come to life. All the players are here, including the Lost Boys and Peter mysterious character with a hidden agenda. The evil Ms. Vileroy also returns. Similar in style but with a backstory more accessible than that in Another Faust (2009), this unique twist on a classic story should find even wider appreciation.

Horn Book (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Peter Pan's pursuit of eternal youth takes him to a modern New York prep school where Professor Darling teaches strange theories about obscure Egyptian artifacts. Peter befriends the professor's children, Wendy and John, and leads them on a dangerous quest. The literary parallels are interesting, but the ambitious story, peopled with too many unlikable characters, tends to trip over its tangled plot.

School Library Journal (Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2010)

Gr 6-9 In this eerie fantasy, the second one set in the elite Marlowe school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the authors interweave Egyptian mythology with the story of a contemporary Peter Pan and a boarding-school counselor with an international gang of teenage boys (the Lost Boys), all of whom have had their right eyetooth pulled out with pliers by Peter's sidekick, Tina. Wendy and John Darling, whose father is a professor and specialist in Egyptian antiquities at the school, discover that the copy of an ancient book, on loan from the British Museum, is magical and creates open gates to the Egyptian underworld. Because they leave a gate open, unresolved evil forces from legends begin to leak into the school. The synthesis of Egyptian mythology and Barrie's story becomes interesting when it becomes clear that the mysterious new school nurse with the damaged eye is connected to both the Egyptian god of the dead and Peter's nemesis, Hook, and that Peter is searching for the secret of eternal youth in the pyramids of the underworld. The authors succeed in creating a sense of danger that builds to a suspenseful climax. Although the setting is somewhat sketchy, with more of a suburban than an urban feel to the school, the characters are fleshed out more successfully, and Wendy's love interests and her competition with Tina will help to hold readers' attention. The authors have left the door open for a third book with their assertion that evil remains in wait in the school basement. Teens who like their fantasy layered and with multifaceted characters will enjoy this thought-provoking read. Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City

Voice of Youth Advocates

Wendy Darling is a junior at New York City’s prestigious Marlowe School. Her precocious brother, John, is entering Marlowe early—at thirteen—so he can graduate in three years. Their father, George, is a somewhat befuddled ancient history professor at the same school; the trio, having been abandoned by the mother, lives in near-poverty in shabby campus housing. The British Museum has loaned Professor Darling several obscure ancient Egyptian artifacts relating to his specialty. Any reader expecting a Disney or Broadway version of Peter Pan will be disappointed as this is a dark and often terrifying continuation. Peter returns as a boisterous and selfish resident assistant still seeking eternal youth; joining him are his sexy loyal side-kick Tina and several Lost Boys. The quest is framed by five legends contained in the exhibit’s Book of Gates, stories of mummies who were embalmed and never died. Their bone-dust can become Peter’s veritable salvation. Peter, Wendy, and John enter the underworld that slowly engulfs Marlowe in a series of frightening adventures as they strive to prove that the curse of the mummies exists with all of its horrific implications. The allusions are myriad, but dedicated fantasy readers will not find them distracting as they follow Wendy’s emergence as a compelling heroine seeking her own identity.—Judith A. Hayn.