Keating's clipped British accent and crisp pronunciations are just right for this story of the imagined adolescence of Captain Hook, Peter Pan's nemesis in J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan
. Fifteen-year-old James, the illegitimate son of "Lord B." and a mother he never knew, is in for a tough time when he arrives, long black curls and all, at Eton to be schooled amongst a bunch of blue-blood snobs. The harsh bullying from fellow students and the clever revenge strategies of King Jas., as he began calling himself, lay the groundwork for Hook's future life of skullduggery. Hart, who penned the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's film Hook
, also takes James from the halls of Eton to the high seas, leaving listeners with a fleshier portrait of a character they thought they already knew. Though younger listeners may be thrown by some of the sophisticated phrasing and depth of detail, most kids will enjoy elements of a boys-at-prep-school, tit-for-tat tale. Keating's sneering characterization of vicious upperclassman Arthur Darling is particularly sharp. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
