Peter is lost. The last time he felt found was when his mother was alive. Before bad things started to happen. Before hopping from foster home to foster home. But he has a plan. All he has to do is find Neverland – find his mother – and everything will be alright again. First, he has to get rid of his new foster family.
Ruth is tired. Tired of being the freak, the outcast, the misfit. Tired of the way people look at her out of the corners of their eyes. Tired of feeling like she doesn’t belong. When Peter comes along, the stories he tells her seem too good to be true. But she’s just desperate enough to listen.
William is scared. Scared of what would happen if his sister knew the truth. Scared he’ll lose her, lose everything. Scared that, every time he closes his eyes, he’ll see the face he just wants to forget. Then, along comes Peter. Peculiar, hopeful Peter with his promises of wonder and adventure and a magical place called Neverland. Will doesn’t believe it, but when it comes to his sister, Ruth, he’ll do anything.
Dark and surreal, Peter Pan meets Bridge to Terabithia in this young adult contemporary novel that explores the cavernous depths of family, pain, and learning to navigate a world where not all things are as they seem.
There’s something about We The Wild Things that captured my imagination while I was reading it. As the synopsis says, this book is a beautiful mix of Peter Pan and Bridge to Terebithia. This book absolutely captures the wild imaginings, and the pure belief in magic that I remember from when I was younger. It blurs the line between what’s real and what is fantasy in a way that makes you want to go on the same journey as Will, Peter and Ruth. It’s a journey of healing and growth, but also it’s filled with Disney’s Fantasia type fantasy elements, from golden, glowing lands below the water, to whales made of stars swimming through the night sky. It’s so vivid and vibrant, it draws you deep into the story.
Of course, despite the child-like wonder and awe inspiring imaginings, this is a book that deals with broken people from dark pasts, and those pasts must be confronted. Each of the three main characters has something they need to heal from, experiences that they must face and accept before they can move on into a better and brighter future. Will, Peter and Ruth are foster children who have finally found what might be the family that will love and accept them for good. But before they can be a family, the three first have to heal from their difficult pasts, hence the need to go on their literal journey of discovery. Their nightmares can be incredibly dark and raw at times, but never hopeless. Despite everything, We The Wild Things is a book about hope and finding the light and family and home after all the pain and hardship that they’ve been through.
While We The Wild Things takes you on a journey through fantastical imaginings and all the way to Neverland and back, those fantasy elements are really just the supporting elements to a story that is all about the people. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to get sucked into this book, because you want to get close to this group, to go with them on their quest and find what it is that they know is out there, even if they’re not quite sure what they’re looking for yet. Neverland is the place of lost children searching for something more. There’s something cosy about this book, something warm and inviting that draws you in. It’s best read snuggled up in your most comfortable armchair with the golden glow of a lamp and a fresh cup of tea and a whole evening with nothing to do but read just one more chapter.
If you love stories inspired by Peter Pan, which capture childlike imagination and wonder, and which takes you on a journey not just physically, but also to face the demons of the past to find healing, love, and family, then you need to read this book. Brian McBride might just be one of my new favourite authors now, and I can’t wait to read more of his books. I just got my copy of his Every Bright and Broken Thing in my book mail this week and I can’t wait to dive in and explore another of his stories.
Have you read We The Wild Things? If so, what did you think? If not, is it on your reading list? What’s your favourite Peter Pan retelling? Let’s chat in the comments down below!
