The Peter Pan Bag

by Lee Kingman

A seventeen-year-old girl discovers why people drop out of society when she becomes part of a Boston hippie colony.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Mary Lee Kingman Natti, who published under the name Lee Kingman, was a writer of children's and young adult books usually set in New England, many specifically in Cape Ann, where she lived most of her life.

Reviews

[Erica Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved it as a teen fascinated with the counter culture. As an adult it reads more like a cautionary tale. My romanticized idea of communal living is no longer but this was a book from the past worth revisiting.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite books! Rocked my world in high school! It's my bag, baby!

[Lisa]

I read this book so long ago and I still think of it.

In the background of this book is the wild years on the late 60s.

Another thing that seems to be overlooked in the reviews is the fallout from the Vietnam War and the young men who were victims.

Our Main Character is watching life unfold around her, witnessing the turbulence of a war that was not fought in our country.

If I read it now, I would probably skim a lot. I don't know how much effort I want to put into getting this book.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite re-read from my teen years, so good!

[Robert Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I saw it in a stack of books on an urban exploration youtube show and was fascinated by peoples' memories of it. For the most part, it was okay. And around page 85, when Wendy is bringing back groceries to the hippie loft it peaked my attention because that sequence was so energetic. However, the first third is a little slow where you get to follow Wendy about yearning for freedom and self-discovery before running away.

The second third is fine and this is where my favorite segment shows up. The activity around the nearby commons and getting to know the other, sometimes infuriating, characters is pretty good. The final third of the book works with the homeless burnt-out Nell attacking the protagonist, Wendy, over the unfortunate and delusional Donald. It's not so much exciting or action-packed but it worked for me for the author to throw in a little violence and sudden tragedy.

Of course, it was an easy read being the 1970 equivalent of YA. Although, it did seem to try to carry a "this could happen to you" vibe in certain instances but is definitely subtler than an afterschool special type of deal. The cops are talked about in terms you would expect i.e. as "pigs" and react as you would expect when clearing the park commons but then are shown carefully carrying an emaciated hippie girl from a basement squat while comparing her to his own daughter. Not that this book is particularly subtle either but no one is portrayed as all bad and all good including the hippies. I like that especially when it comes to books like this.

The only real complaint I have about this book is that the protagonist, Wendy, is just so very plain and boring. She never exhibits the impulsiveness that she has when she runs away nor does she really pursue any course at finding herself not even any real intentional drug experimentation. I was a little disappointed.

Overall, I enjoyed the book for what it was especially so when I made it to the second third of the book. Although when Wendy would start thinking/talking over more than a paragraph I kind of scanned over it. I guess if you're in the market for an easy read pseudo-cautionary hippie-tale this might be what you're looking for.

[Aggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read about youths taking up residence in a Boston apartment, living the hippie lifestyle. Young Wendy escapes from her boring life in Rhode Island and meets a group of people who become her friends. She smokes pot and raps with her housemates about various topics. In the meantime she falls for young Donald, a street dude, while trying to decide what she wants to do with her life.

I loved it. I felt I was back in 1968.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as a teen. The writing is vivid and puts you in the place. I still occasionally reread it. YA fiction was great in the 50s to the early 80s, about the trials of growing up, then it seemed to go dark, and mainly about unreal situations with vampires, witches and similar dark nonsense. This is a wholesome yet real adventure about a teen on the brink of womanhood, finding herself in a changing society, and what she ultimately comes to value.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine if I'd read this when it was written, in 1970 when I was 15, I would've liked it better. The main character was pretty stupid and I didn't understand Donald's appeal from the little description we had of him. I also didn't like the ending. She wimped out.
That said, it was still an interesting slice of 1970.

[tam tam]

Bought this years ago on a thrift-store lark, and for some reason I just love this goofy slice o' "hippie" culture set in & around Boston Common.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this as a young teen in the early 70s.

[Anjiya Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "The Peter Pan Bag" was about a girl named Wendy Allerayce. She is tired of her family babying her and treating her like a child. She asks to go off with her friend to New York for the summer but her parents say no. So she runs away. When she gets to the train, she doesn't see Maggie, but her brother Peter. He takes her to Boston where she lives with Oriana, Rolf, Jez and Peter. They are a bunch of hippies. Wendy has to learn to find herself and live life free.
I liked the fact that in the book Wendy had to find herself. Time and rules didn't exist in Oriana's apartment and she had to learn to let go of past rules.
What I didn't like about the book was that Wendy went back home and that Donald went to the hospital. I wish they could all go to the farm with Oriana.

[Will Dockery]

I read this book almost 40 years ago... and a question has nagged me for some time now, which I have asked in a question elsewhere... were there lyrics to a song in this book?

Does anyone remember a song with this line in it:

"I've got a secret, a little green secret"

It was a drug reference song about weed, a friend of mine, Deby Smith, used to sing. It may have been an original, but I think it came from a paperback novel called The Peter Pan Bag, but I haven't seen that book since, either. The book may have been Go Ask Alice, which was a similarly themed teenage drug users kind of potboiler.

I've tried Googling it, to no avail.

[Rob Tennison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these cautionary YA tales when I was a kid. Good characterization, and not too preachy.

[Aria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't bad. Good flow w/ the writing. MC isn't so likable, but still is pretty spot-on for a kid her age, so I suppose that's more or less as it should be. It was more or less real w/o getting rapey, although that was discussed as possible given the circumstances. Also, the 1st time she smokes pot it's beyond dumb b/c what they describe is not pot. I kept waiting for it to be revealed that the stuff had been laced, but no. We're supposed to believe that something more similar to acid was pot, which is just irritating & stupid as all hell. Overall though, despite it's old-school origin, the story held pretty well given all the time that's passed, & the writing was so good it was easy to keep w/ it. (Even when stupid kids were stupid.....b/c I was a stupid kid once, too.)