Shelby and the Lost Boy of Misbegot Island: A Re-imagined YA Novel inspired by 'Peter Pan'
John Edward Byrd
eBook
Imagine a captured African youth who escapes, along with other native boys, from a slave ship headed to the New World. They try to row their way back home to Africa, but land instead on a magical and mysterious island somewhere in the unknown and unseen Caribbean, where nothing is as it should be, including the natural process of aging.With the passage of time, that is, centuries later, on another island, in another place and time, Brooklyn teen Shelby Simmons, who aspires to become a famous author someday, accompanies her younger siblings on the Fourth of July to enjoy the fireworks display. Following the crowd-pleasing show a drowsy Shelby and her brothers notice a couple of odd twinkling figures above, headed earthward. Shortly they are surprised by an encounter with a strange and unusual boy, 'Mpeta' (M-pee-ta) and his pixie companion 'Yam Yam,' both from the far-off island of 'Misbegot'...and who both CAN FLY! On learning Shelby is a STORYTELLER!!! Mpeta tries to convince her and her brothers to accompany him back to his island to join his 'Pack" of lost boys. There, wild adventures, unbelievable events, and battles with bandit pirates awaits! A reimaged adaptation of 'Peter Pan,' this African-American take on the classic story stands as a metaphor of our historical and cultural experience, past...and present.