Everland (Everland Series #1)

by Wendy Spinale

Overview

London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her younger siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the deadly Marauders-the German Army led by the cutthroat Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.

Unsure if the outbreak has spread but desperate to leave, Captain Hook is on the hunt for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the surviving children. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return.

Until one day when they grab Joanna. Gwen will stop at nothing to get her sister back, but as she sets out, she crosses paths with a daredevil named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it might cost Gwen more than she bargained for.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338095531
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	03/28/2017
Series:	Everland Series , #1
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Wendy Spinale is a former character actor for the Disneyland theme park (so she’s very familiar with the world of make believe). Everland is her debut novel.

Wendy lives with her family in the San Fransico Bay Area.

Read an Excerpt

His face draws close to mine. “You don't plan to march into the city and rescue your sister with a couple of dull daggers, do you?” “I'll find another weapon on the way.” I grab for my pack, but he brushes my hand aside. “Do you really believe you and your kid brother can get her back all by yourself? It's only a matter of time before you're caught, too.” Pete hands me my bag. “Most survivors have learned the two rules to staying alive. Number one: don't leave behind a footprint. Bella and I stick to the rooftops. Others, those that are skilled with weapons and can run fast…” “And have stomachs of steel,” Bella interjects, wrinkling her nose. “Those Scavengers utilize the sewage systems,” Pete finishes. “There are other people?” Mikey asks, tugging on Pete's coattail. “Of course there are others,” Bella says with exasperation in her voice. “Lots of them. All kids, obviously. You don't think the four of us are the only ones left in England, do you?” “Where are the other kids?” Mikey asks, his expression wild with curiosity. Pete beckons us to the window. Mikey follows and, with reluctance, I join them. In the distance, the crumbled buildings of Everland rise toward the sky like steel, concrete, and brick tombstones. The navy blue hues of night have faded into lavender as the sun on the horizon chases away what is left of the evening stars. Only two twinkling points remain. He points to the west. “Second to the right,” he says. “Just below it.” “You're telling me there are children hiding in Everland?” I ask in disbelief.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Everland
"In an exemplary debut, Spinale uses Gwen and Hook's voices to offer glimpses into the psyche of a man desperate to please his cruel mother and a girl intent on saving the only family she has left. This is a magical, wondrous treat, with a conclusion that's nothing less than epic." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A fun and unique addition to the twisted fairy-tale genre, loaded with adventure, romance, and double crossing." --VOYA

"Peter Pan goes steampunk in this debut, which twists the familiar tale into a survival story complete with well-drawn characters, a blistering plot, and plenty of adventure. . . . Fans of Scott Westerfeld and A. G. Howard will clamor for more from this author." --Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 03/07/2016
Zeppelins dot the sky and Marauders roam the bombed-out streets of Everland, formerly London, in this darkly imaginative take on Peter Pan. Fifteen-year-old Gwen Darling and her siblings Joanna and Mikey are struggling to survive since their parents failed to come home after the war started. A virus set free when Capt. Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer (aka Hook) conquered London has moved beyond its borders. Hook aims to find a cure using children who are immune, but Pete, his Lost Boys, and Lost Girl Bella have no plans to get themselves captured. When Joanna goes missing, Pete offers to help find her. What follows is a fast-paced adventure set in and under a ruined city where steam-powered weaponry collides with the ingenuity of the Lost Children. In an exemplary debut, Spinale uses Gwen and Hook’s voices to offer glimpses into the psyche of a man desperate to please his cruel mother and a girl intent on saving the only family she has left. This is a magical, wondrous treat, with a conclusion that’s nothing less than epic. Ages 12–up. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (May)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2016
Gr 6 Up—The story of Peter Pan (Pete), Wendy (Gwen), and the Lost Boys is reimagined as a steampunk fantasy. Hook (aka Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer), the son of Katherina, the power-hungry "Bloodred Queen" of Germany, is captain of an army of Marauders. Equipped with eight-legged steam crawlers and zeppelins (including the Jolly Roger), they capture London (now called Everland) and reduce it to rubble. Hook's Buckingham Palace headquarters is the only building left in reasonably good condition. Even worse, the German bombs have destroyed Europe's largest biological weapons lab, releasing the deadly Horologia Virus, killing nearly everyone over the age of 18. Gwen and her two siblings, moving from one destroyed home to another in London's outskirts, are discovered by Pete and Bella (a petite girl wearing mechanical wings) and taken to live underground among the Lost Boys. Chapters alternately narrated by Gwen and Hook describe the action from both sides. Hook hears that one of the girls is immune to the virus and makes a plan to capture her; Pete, Gwen, and the Lost Boys must save them. Intertwined with the plot is Hook's desire to earn his evil mother's love. The story becomes somewhat melodramatic as the ending looms. Peter, Gwen, and the Boys try to escape from the Marauders; there's a bit of a love story as well. A girl named Lily, Smee (here called Smeeth), and crocodiles all make appearances. VERDICT Tweens and teens who delighted in the original Barrie or Disney versions when younger might find this more sophisticated, pseudohistorical twist an interesting read.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

2016-02-02
With London crippled by bombings and a deadly disease outbreak, Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey, are bent on just surviving until they find a way out. Besides the demolished state of their home, they face serious obstacles, the loss of their parents and the city's other adults being just one. They must also evade Capt. Hans Otto Oswald Kretschmer—Hook for short. Hook and his army of Marauders go about snatching up the bombings' survivors for experimentation for a cure for the Horologia virus. Those taken by Hook never return. One day they snatch Joanna, and in Gwen's quest to rescue her sister, she joins forces with a fearless boy named Pete and his equally bold friend, Bella. The question then becomes: will this team, together with the Lost Boys, be enough to outsmart and outrun Hook and his German army and rescue Joanna without putting any other lives at risk? This reimagining of Peter Pan tries too hard to hold on to key elements of its inspiration to succeed on its own, and the hand of the author is sadly evident. Repetitive conversations unnecessarily lengthen the story, and the romantic subplot seems clumsily tacked on. The characters are fickle and impulsive in ways that feel designed to ensure that readers never forget that they are children. With predictable plot twists, this story is unoriginal in ways that have nothing to do with the fact that it retells a classic. (Urban fantasy. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews