Never Ever

Gr 9 Up—This debut novel takes readers on an edgy thrill ride to an island where no one over age 17 resides or survives. Teenage resentment of parental control is challenged and turned upside down when impulsive choices threaten to yield permanent consequences. The Dalton siblings, Wylie, Joshua, and Micah, are privileged, bored Manhattan teenagers. They each have their own hang-ups regarding their parents' pending divorce and other family turmoil, but for one night they come together at a rooftop party that changes everything. Wylie meets Phinn, a real-life Peter Pan who promises her and her brothers a life of freedom and eternal youth if they just agree to come away with him. What starts as a carefree life of parties and fun becomes a face-to-face confrontation with manipulation, betrayal, and a sickening secret from the past. Teens will willingly ride along on this unlikely fantasy if only to vicariously experience a world without parents. The pastimes the Daltons dabble in (sex, drinking, and recreational drug use) are not without consequence but are handled without heavy-handed moralizing. Saedi has written scripts for television, which contributes to this book's effortless movement from scene to scene. Her teen characters are believably contemporary despite being based upon a 100-year-old classic tale.