by Audrey Greathouse
Genre: YA Fantasy/ Fairytale Retelling
Release Date: May 9th 2016
Clean Teen Publishing
Summary from Goodreads:
Magic can do a lot—give you flight, show you mermaids, help you taste the stars, and… solve the budget crisis? That's what the grown-ups will do with it if they ever make it to Neverland to steal its magic and bring their children home.
However, Gwen doesn't know this. She's just a sixteen-year-old girl with a place on the debate team and a powerful crush on Jay, the soon-to-be homecoming king. She doesn't know her little sister could actually run away with Peter Pan, or that she might have to chase after her to bring her home safe. Gwen will find out though—and when she does, she'll discover she's in the middle of a looming war between Neverland and reality.
She'll be out of place as a teenager in Neverland, but she won't be the only one. Peter Pan's constant treks back to the mainland have slowly aged him into adolescence as well. Soon, Gwen will have to decide whether she's going to join impish, playful Peter in his fight for eternal youth… or if she's going to scramble back to reality in time for the homecoming dance.
Buy Links:
Advance Praise:
"Gwen's description of growing up and high school life is one of the most accurate that I've ever read." (Across the Bookiverse)
"The author creates such a peaceful and serene place that it felt likeescape just reading about it...Through this world, the author explores the themes of what it means to grow up." (K.E. Carson, The Underground)
"The author creates such a peaceful and serene place that it felt likeescape just reading about it...Through this world, the author explores the themes of what it means to grow up." (K.E. Carson, The Underground)
Help support The Neverland Wars on the Thunderclap app! http://thndr.me/jC4wXi
Excerpt:
They landed and moved slowly through the jungle for the last
few hundred feet, giving Peter time to explain to Gwen as she walked at his
side.
“If you’ve never met a mermaid before, there are a few things
you should know about them.”
“Like what?”
“Like they are the most cunning and conniving creatures you
will ever cross paths with.”
“Really?” Gwen asked, astounded. “I would have thought
mermaids would be… I don’t know,
beautiful and sweet.”
“Sirens, all of them. They’ll do anything to get what they
want. Mermaids have no qualms about the means to the end, so long as it’s their
end they get to.”
“Well, what do they want?”
“It’s always some kind of trouble… not that they’ll ever tell you what they want.”
Peter barreled through a clump of vines, hanging low in his
way. Gwen followed after him, her curiosity compounding with every moment. “Are
they dangerous then?”
“Terribly,” Peter responded. “So there are three rules for
whenever you confront mermaids. First, don’t get too near to them; second,
don’t get too close to them; and third, don’t ever get in the water with them.”
“Alright. Easy enough,” Gwen said, wondering if there was a
working difference between the first and second rule.
“The best thing to remember,” Peter continued, “is that
mermaids will never tell you what they’re after, and it’s best to assume it’s
something dastardly. Whatever they want from you, whatever they want you to do,
just don’t.”
“Well, if they’re so terrible, why are we going to meet with
them?” Gwen asked, not seeing what good could come of the encounter.
“Because mermaids know things, and they can learn things you
and I couldn’t ever possibly learn, even if someone spent a hundred years
trying to teach us… and they have
information right now that I need.”
Peter
caught sight of a papaya tree and reached up
to
pick its fruit. It seemed impossible
for Peter to pass up ripe fruit, so he beckoned to Gwen and filled her
satchel with a few. He found a mango tree, and tossed Gwen a few of those
fruits as well.
“Will the mermaids tell you?” Gwen asked. “If you’re so bent on thwarting them, what’s to stop
them from giving you misinformation to spite you?”
“They’re very easy to coerce,” Peter said, his mouth full of
mango, “and the one good thing about mermaids is they can’t lie.”
“They can’t?”
“Nope. Not even a tiny white lie. Mermaids don’t go against
their word, and they stick to the bargains they strike. But that makes them
even more dangerous, obviously.”
Gwen didn’t see how that was obvious at all. If anything, it
seemed like that would make them less of a threat, but there wasn’t time to press the conversation further. They broke
the tree line and found themselves on the edge of a small cliff. Crude
steps carved into the cliff's face led down to a rocky lagoon. Below, the beautiful bay of blue-green
water was so clear and still that it was easy to make out the silhouettes of
the slender, aquatic nymphs swimming beneath the surface.
Character Outfits:
If you've ever tried to write a story, you know the most
important decision is how you're going to procrastinate. There are lots of ways
to procrastinate, from spending time on Facebook and Tumblr to keeping bees (if
you're Neil Gaiman, anyways.)
I've found the best form of procrastination is anything that
keeps your attention and energy on your story. You might be tired of staring at
the black-and-white screen of a word processor, but don't let yourself believe
you're tired of your story! That's my secret, anyways.
With the release of The Neverland Wars this week, I'm
sharing a lot of my procrastination projects, including book-look outfits for
my characters!
The three most important characters you'll meet in the first
chapters of the book are Gwen, her sister Rosemary, and her
maybe-kinda-friend-crush-person, Jay. I'm sure readers will dream up their own
images of the characters, but here's the outfits I picked out for each of those
three:
ROSEMARY
Eight-years-old and full of joy, Rosemary wears a denim dress
with sunshine yellow leggings so that she can somersault and cartwheel like a
lady. If we wanted to be more accurate, we'd already have grass stains on those
pretty leggings. I wanted to pick out a sweet, bright pink shoe for her, but
who am I kidding? This girl would probably be running around barefoot. Because
she has no conception of color matching, she also has a pale pink shirt and a
headband full of fabric flowers that are yet another shade of pink.
JAY
For Jay, I picked out a pair jeans and then a nice soft
pocket t-shirt... because pocket t-shirts are under- rated and life is better
when you wear comfy clothes. Jay is pretty down to earth, so he's got a simple
belt and then a G-Shock watch, because those things are durable and awesome,
and even tell you the phase of the moon. I gave him white shoes, but they'd be
a lot dirtier than they look in this picture. He would have spilled so much
charcoal and other art supplies on them by now, not to mention all the dirt
from running around and playing football with his brother, Rodger. I chose that
sweatshirt since it was letterman style, and he's got his letterman with the
high school football team.
GWEN
Finally, I have the outfit for my wonderful protagonist. Her
fashion sense hasn't evolved much in the past five years, so she still enjoys
simple sun dresses. Just because she's feminine doesn't mean she wants to draw
attention to her curves or show a lot of skin. With that, she's got a warm,
white cardigan. A white sweater is a practical garment, and can go with almost
any outfit. Her sandals don't have heels because she might need to run or skip
somewhere, even if it is just to keep up with her little sister. She doesn't
need a big purse, but does wear a cross-body bag so that her hands are always
free. Gwen's jewelry is colorful and simple: she's got a pendant necklace like
a feather and a bracelet like leaves... because even the big sister needs a
little something sunshine yellow and green like grass stains.
About the Author
Audrey Greathouse is a Seattle-based author of science-fiction and fantasy. Raised in the suburbs, she became a writer after being introduced to NaNoWriMo during her sophmore year of high school. Since then, she has drafted more than a dozen books, 100 sonnets, and 800 other poems, and a handful of short stories and one-act plays.
After dropping out of her university and beginning training as a circus performer on the aerial silks, she returned to school to study at Southern New Hampshire University College of Online and Continuing Education to earn her B.A. in English Language and Literature, with a minor in Computer Information Technologies.
Audrey Greathouse is a die-hard punk cabaret fan, and pianist of fourteen years. She's usually somewhere along the west coast, and she is always writing.
After dropping out of her university and beginning training as a circus performer on the aerial silks, she returned to school to study at Southern New Hampshire University College of Online and Continuing Education to earn her B.A. in English Language and Literature, with a minor in Computer Information Technologies.
Audrey Greathouse is a die-hard punk cabaret fan, and pianist of fourteen years. She's usually somewhere along the west coast, and she is always writing.
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