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  • Published: 2 April 2018
  • ISBN: 9780143787846
  • Imprint: Random House Australia Children's
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $19.99

Neverland




Kit Learmonth would rather die than grow up and leave Neverland …

After doing herself near-fatal harm, Kit has returned to her island home. But it’s a place she hardly recognises: the witch and the mermaids are hiding and the pirates have sailed to more bountiful shores. In their place is Neverland and its inhabitants – damaged teens too sick to be in regular school, watched over by her psychiatrist uncle. And now Kit is one of them.

Kit has a choice. She can use illicit night-time adventures with friends and mysterious new boy Rohan to avoid the truth. Or she can separate harsh reality from childhood fantasy and remember the night of her parents’ deaths.

What really prompted her family’s departure from the island? Did a monster drive them away? Is the monster still there?

  • Published: 2 April 2018
  • ISBN: 9780143787846
  • Imprint: Random House Australia Children's
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $19.99

About the author

Margot McGovern

Margot McGovern lives in Adelaide and has a creative writing PhD from Flinders University. Her debut novel, Neverland, was shortlisted for the Text Prize and the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, and her short horror fiction has appeared in issues of The Dark and the Aurealis-Award-shortlisted anthology Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales. You can find Margot on Instagram: @margot.mcgovern

Also by Margot McGovern

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Praise for Neverland

Darkly sublime, subversive and haunting, lush and honeyed – everything I love in a book.

Allyse Near, author of FAIRYTALES FOR WILDE GIRLS

As compelling and treacherous as the sea, Neverland is a punch to the gut, a siren song, an elegy.

Lili Wilkinson, author of THE BOUNDLESS SUBLIME

Neverland is wild and tricksy and tantalising - I fell in love with its pirate heart and gorgeous prose. For anyone who's ever wanted to stay within the pages of a book, or the mists of a dream.

Simmone Howell, author of GIRL DEFECTIVE

McGovern's tale echoes everything from J.M. Barrie to Homer, but is first and foremost a striking, sensitively drawn odyssey that sets sail from the far shore of trauma.

Cameron Woodhead, Sydney Morning Herald

This impressively original debut from an Adelaide writer had me reading well into the night ... Evolving characters, an overarching mystery, loads of emotion and fine, poetic writing make this a book to savour.

Katharine England, Daily Telegraph

Margot McGovern’s debut novel is a dark and compelling examination of memory, self-determination and the dangers of romanticising the past. Neverland is a beautifully written book for older readers aged 15 and up who appreciate a story with complex characters, depth and grit.

Lian Hingee, Junior Books+Publishing

WOW. THIS BOOK ... It’s so important to see accurate representations of mental health in YA, and I’m thrilled that we can add another brilliant #LoveOzYA novel to the list ... Neverland is definitely a novel that won over my heart. I absolutely adored it.

writtenwordworlds.com

Filled with suspense, darkness and loss but balanced with camaraderie, bravery and love, Margot McGovern’s richly layered plot explores the world of teens who are challenged by what life has dealt them and the many ways that they physically and mentally deal with these things.

betterreading.com.au

Kit’s story is heartbreaking, yet heatwarming and full of hope

alwaysandforeverreading.wordpress.com

This is a powerfully emotional and mythic work that draws parallels with the journey of Odysseus, cast adrift on the high seas, in pursuit of safe harbour.

Natalie Platten, readings.com.au

Gripping from start to finish, Neverland is a must-read for all lovers of Greek mythology, for protagonists that grow on you, and for the light that leads you to recovery. Kit’s journey will have you crying and laughing, and the honesty of McGovern’s words will take your breath away. It truly is an adventure, and one I would recommend taking.

Sofia, theliterarycasanova.wordpress.com

Neverland is an engaging and emotional read.

Sandra Ciccarello, ReadPlus

Margot McGovern has crafted a masterful and remarkable debut that destigmatises mental illness through characters that will resonate with readers.

divabooknerd.com

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