Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth (by J. V. Hart)

J. V. Hart, screenwriter of the movie Hook, uses as a springboard an obscure short story by J. M. Barrie, combining it with hints laced throughout Peter Pan to create a thrilling story that fleshes out the evil pirate captain's early life. Barrie always saw Hook as an intriguing, tragic figure, and a reflection of himself, and Hart has outdone himself in creating a fascinating hero/villain who is as magnetic to the reader as he is to his schoolmates.

Hart's dark and violent conception of Hook is truer to Barrie's original vision than it is to the humorously foppish popinjay caricature Americans have come to know, thanks to Disney and Cyril Ritchard. In the original 1904 stage play, Hook was so terrifying that children often had to be carried out of the theater screaming. It takes more to shock the worldly kids of today, brought up on violent movies and video games. But no one can accuse Hart of not trying. And sensitive kids may still need a guiding hook, er, hand.