May 9 is the 157^th birthday of J.M. Barrie, the Scottish-born author of dozens of impossibly imaginative books and plays for children and adults.

In honor of his most famous creation — Peter Pan, the eternally young boy forever living in Neverland — we asked our book experts at The New York Public Library for recommendations of books that have Peter-like characters who simply refuse to grow up.

“Jeffty Is Five,” Harlan Ellison’s Hugo-Award winning story and the first in his excellent collection Shatterday, concerns a boy who never grows older than five, and lives forever in “the good old days,” when comic books were just a nickel and they put real butter on the movie theater popcorn. But is it possible to stay five in “the good old days” forever or, sooner or later, will the real world come creeping in? —Isaiah Pittman, Inwood

 

 

 

In The Tin Drum by Günter Grass, Oskar Matzerath quite literally refuses to grow up, willing his physical growth — and seemingly also his mental and emotional growth — to stop when he’s three. Unspeaking, he communicates with ceaseless drumming on his prized toy drum and glass-shattering shrieks. As he narrates his own story, he reveals to the reader his uniquely anarchic inner life and his perspective on the far more deranged period of history he lives through in the era of the Third Reich. —Kathie Coblentz, Rare Materials

 

 

 

The dystopian novel Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart features a sexagenarian character named Joshie, who is obsessed with doing absolutely anything to retain his youth. Amongst the many things he does, the most extreme move is using his company’s expensive “dechronification treatments” to take decades off his appearance, without knowing the possible aftereffects..... —Joe Pascullo, Grand Central

 

 

 

 

In Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney, the charming 85-year-old protagonist, is not exactly a Peter Pan character — but she is remarkable for her vigor and her open-minded interest in all the people she encounters during an epic walk around lower Manhattan on New Year’s Eve of 1984. I’m pretty sure none of my septuagenarian and octogenarian relatives had any interest in learning about “Rapper’s Delight“ and the Sugar Hill Gang back in the 1980s, but Lillian is a budding rap fan. —Elizabeth Waters, Mid-Manhattan

 

 

 

With a slight twist on the theme, Roz Chast’s bittersweet memoir, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, chronicles her interactions with her aging parents as they revert to child-like behavior and she must assume the role of parent as she cares for them in their last years. Be prepared to laugh out loud, but keep a box of Kleenex nearby because life is complicated. —Maura Muller, Volunteer Program

 

 

 

I’ll Mature When I’m Dead: Dave Barry’s Amazing Tales of Adulthood is a hilarious collection of essays by Dave Barry. Among many other subjects, he pokes fun at his own and his friends’ occasional immaturity. —Christina Lebec, Bronx Library Center

 

 

 

 

 

Not exactly a story about someone who won’t grow up, but instead someone who grows backward. Benjamin Button is born an old man, and with every year he grows closer and closer to his childhood. You may remember the Brad Pitt movie but the short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells this strange tale in an entirely different way that warrants a read! —Alessandra Affinito, Chatham Square

 

 

 

 

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!