Title: Neverland Academy
Author: Daelynn Quinn
Genre: YA
It was the worst day of Daphne’s life. Not only had her parents moved her from Atlanta to the middle of nowhere, but her boyfriend broke up with her in the middle of a crowded club and her parents grounded her for a month for sneaking out and stealing the BMW. All in one night! If she were back home in Atlanta it would be no problem. She could always find ways of getting around her punishments. But this was rural Georgia. And there was nowhere to go but woods and farmland. That is, until Finn showed up at her window.
Finn was the invincible mascot of Neverland Academy where Daphne’s brothers attended. For the five years since he’d been expelled from the all-boys boarding school, he lived in the old slave tunnels under the former antebellum plantation home. He and his band of outcast boys lived for pulling pranks on the school’s professors, and especially the headmaster, Byron Trappe, who had a personal vendetta against Finn.
Daphne grew to love life under the academy. But there was one problem. She was falling for Finn. Hard. She knew he didn’t want a relationship or anything that resembled growing up. But when the wall she built between them begins to crumble before her eyes, will she stay at the academy and face impending heartbreak? Or will she leave her heart behind and escape the dangers of criminal life, including a perilous encounter with the vengeful headmaster?
Finn was the invincible mascot of Neverland Academy where Daphne’s brothers attended. For the five years since he’d been expelled from the all-boys boarding school, he lived in the old slave tunnels under the former antebellum plantation home. He and his band of outcast boys lived for pulling pranks on the school’s professors, and especially the headmaster, Byron Trappe, who had a personal vendetta against Finn.
Daphne grew to love life under the academy. But there was one problem. She was falling for Finn. Hard. She knew he didn’t want a relationship or anything that resembled growing up. But when the wall she built between them begins to crumble before her eyes, will she stay at the academy and face impending heartbreak? Or will she leave her heart behind and escape the dangers of criminal life, including a perilous encounter with the vengeful headmaster?
EXCERPT
“But you’re practically an adult already, aren’t you? How old are you?”
“I’m seventeen for three more months. And it doesn’t matter how old I am anyway. Being an adult means being responsible, paying bills, working.” Finn’s voice took on an intonation that sounded like he was about to vomit.
“But you can’t just stop aging. You’re going to be an adult eventually, whether you like it or not. It’s nature.”
“In the physical sense, yes. But I’ll never be an adult as society sees it. Not as long as I stay at the academy.”
“I don’t understand. What does the academy have anything to do with it?”
“At Neverland Academy, we do what we want, when we want. It means never having to never having to follow rules or do what you’re told. Never doing homework or stupid book reports. Never being punished for having fun. Never falling in love and having your heart broken. Never having any responsibility. Never growing up.”
“But you can’t stay there forever, can you?”
“Why not? They’ve got everything we need. As long as we stay hidden and out of sight, we can keep partying like it’s 1999 until we’re old and gray.”
Daphne’s ears perked. Though her rational side kept trying to tell her that this was wrong, she was too tempted by the seductive nature of Neverland Academy. She didn’t want to have her heart broken again, like Rocks had done to her. She didn’t want to get a job or be responsible. She wanted to have fun and live life her own way, by her own rules, where nobody would tell her what to do or how to do it. She wanted to be free.
“Okay, let’s keep going.”
Author Bio
Daelynn Quinn was born and raised in southern Maryland where she spent her youth exploring and falling in love with nature in the woods behind her house. She graduated the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in dietetics, which she promptly abandoned to pursue writing. Daelynn’s writing is fast-paced and laced with current issues that concern her. Her first dystopian trilogy, Fall of Venus, focused on climate change and the role we as humans play in it. Her YA novel, Neverland Academy, delves into child abuse and negligence. Daelynn is excited to be commencing a new series, which will tear into the animal exploitation industries. While she is not reading or writing, Daelynn enjoys brainstorming while mowing her lawn, cooking healthy meals her kids refuse to eat, and watching old episodes of Mr. Bean with her three boys.
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