Dust

 Swanson, Kara. Dust. 2020. Book 1 of the Heirs of Neverland series. 348p. ISBN 9781621841265.

Claire Kenton doesn't remember much as a child, aside from always being with her twin brother Conner. Bouncing from foster home to foster home, the pair could never find stability, mainly due to Claire's uncontrolled shedding of sparkling dust that could turn deadly when shed in anger. After accidentally burning a foster mother when she was 5, the twins have made their way through home after home, learning that the only thing they have is each other. Connor has always loved books and movies about Peter Pan, and used to tell Claire that they were from Neverland. He once successfully convinced Claire to jump out of a second story window and try to fly with her dust, but the result was a disfigured Claire, a broken dumpster, and a scarred body.

Connor went missing four years ago, Claire has spent her time and resources trying to track him down. She met the enigmatic N online, and after years of efforts he tells her he finally found some security footage from Los Angeles International Airport that shows Connor willingly following a stranger on board a plane to London.

Desperate to be reunited, Claire sells all of her meager possessions and heads to London, where she discovers that Neverland is not just a book, but a real place, and that Connor was brought to London by Captain Hook himself. Mad at Peter Pan for stealing her brother, Claire vows to destroy him if she gets the chance. 

Peter Pan has been exiled from Neverland and is unable to return. Tinkerbell is dead, the pixies are in disarray, and Hook and his band of pirates have joined forces with Lost Boys who are slowly aging to try to catch him. Peter has been looking for Claire for years, but has not been able to find her, so when he stumbles upon her by his statue in London, he is surprised and thrilled. When she reveals her hatred for him, however, he pretends to be a Lost Boy named Ben, and begins to explains to her the challenges that a wilting Neverland inflicts on its former residents.

But the boy who never wanted to grow up will need to be very convincing to get Claire to follow him back to Neverland to look for her brother Connor, for her distrust runs deep, and Peter Pan is not known for his honesty. Plus, he might be falling in love with Claire, which won't do. With Hook working his own angle, and the mysterious N still in the picture, Claire is about to enter into a fantastic tale despite her best efforts.

Fans of fiction and of Neverland will appreciate this twist on an old tale. For a different take, read Everland.