2. Peter takes risks for the safety and well being of his friends. Do they reciprocate his honorable actions? Who is the better friend? How do people prove their friendship to one another? Who do you think are the best examples of friends in the story? Why?
3. Molly understands the power of the stardust and yet she acts anyway, but Peter gets involved when he has nothing to gain for himself. Who do you think displays the most courage in the book? What is courage? Who else displays courage in the novel? Why do you think so? Who does not?
4. Starstuff gave ordinary people the ability to “… appear to be gods; they inspired fear; they were worshipped; they were obeyed absolutely.” (p. 153) How does this kind of power corrupt people? What are examples of people throughout history who abused their power? Why do you think humans are able to succumb to this kind of corruption?
5. Discuss the following quote by Fighting Prawn: “We’re not savages here,… I know. I’ve seen savagery. I saw it often when I was a …guest of the British Navy. I experienced it many times myself, at the wrong end of a whip.” (p.273) Alf assumes that the natives cannot even speak English and tries to communicate using only the word “How!” What are the authors poking fun at here? What attitudes have changed since the original Peter Pan was written? What is savagery? What was Fighting Prawn talking about in this quote?
6. This adventure is an action packed high-seas adventure. Which scenes of the book were your favorites? Why? How do authors develop and sustain the suspense of a novel, especially a long one? What can you learn from Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson that you can apply to your own writing?
7. Authors can reveal a character’s personality in several ways- by what they say, what they do, and how others react toward them. How does the author reveal Peter and Molly’s character using these different techniques? Which of the minor characters is your favorite? Why?
8. A unique aspect of Peter and the Starcatchers is the cast of not one nemesis, but two! Describe Stache and Smee and compare them to the other antagonists in the story, Slank and Little Richard. Which pair frightened you more? Why? What qualities did they have in common?
9. What do you think Peter’s life is like on the island after Molly and the others depart? What will he do to fill his days? What adventures might he have? Would you like to be on that island or not?
10. How do Barry and Pearson connect this story to the original? What elements and details are kept and which ones are spared? What do you think was important to maintain in creating a prequel? Were there any questions you were excited to learn the answers to by reading this book? What were they?
11. Molly says that starstuff is responsible for many of the mysterious things on this earth. What mystery would you choose to explain by saying it was the result of starstuff? How would you explain it?
12. If your only choice were to work on a ship either under Black Stache or Slank, which would you choose? Why?
13. Black Stache and Slank are fairly sinister characters. How do the authors lighten the mood of what could be a very serious, violent story?
14. From the start, Peter is the center of much of the action in the book, but the authors kept several storylines moving. If Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson had asked you for a different title for the book, what would your choice have been? Explain your choice.
15. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson used email to write back and forth with each other. The result of their communication was Peter and the Starcatchers. What challenges do you think they might have faced while writing this novel?
1. Write a prequel to a folktale or fairytale of your choice. Be sure to stay true to the original characters and don’t get bogged down explaining yourself, just begin with an exciting scene like Peter and the Starcatchers!
2. Create a timeline or map of the location of the trunk and the stardust for the whole book. Your graphic should make it clear not only the location, but who controls it.
3. Scope out locations for at least three scenes for the movie adaptation of the novel and explain in detail why you think they would work. You must provide either sketches for the director to view or pictures of the actual places.
4. Using only dialogue, write a scene between Peter and Molly after the close of Starcatchers and before the original opens.
5. Choose your favorite scene from Peter Pan to act out.
6. Sketch or draw the main settings in the play. Explain why each place is important.
These discussion questions & activities come from various sources. Some of these questions and activities are my own and others are copied from other sources. This page may be linked to or copied for educational/non-profit purposes.