As someone who vowed never to grow up (spoiler alert: that didn’t work for me), Peter Pan’s magic and Peter Pan’s narratives have always captivated me.
middle grade, already, adult: it doesn’t matter what genre of book the story is.
You are reading: Books based on peter pan
As long as it has Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, Wendy Darling, and the Lost Boys, then you can bet your pixie dust I’ll read it.
so if you’re…
- a child at heart
- a j. meter. barrie purist
- a superfan of disney’s animated movie
- guilty of having a crush on jeremy sumpter in the 2003 live-action remake (don’t worry, you they weren’t the only ones!)
…then this complete list of the best retellings, reimaginings, and modern twists on Peter Pan’s fairy tales is definitely for you.
here we go! To Neverland!
45 Magical Books to Read if You Like Peter Pan Retellings
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medium grade peter pan short stories for tweens
1. sisters of the never sea by cynthia leitich smith
Native American lily roberts and english-born wendy darling are more than best friends, they’re stepsisters.
But when their estranged parents plan to go on separate vacations for the summer, Lily and Wendy worry about what will become of their family.
Little do they know that Peter Pan has been watching them and has mischievous plans of his own.
for fans of: #ownvoices books, cynthia leitich smith, middle grade books by indigenous authors
2. peter and the star hunters by dave barry and ridley pearson
peter lives an unhappy and uneventful life in st. norbert’s orphanage for lost children.
But all that changes when he and four other orphans are sold into slavery to the evil king of rundoon.
As peter and his friends sail across the ocean to their impending doom, they make an unlikely discovery. There’s a mysterious trunk kept aboard his ship, and it’s full of unknown magical treasure.
Is it gold, jewelry or something much more dangerous?
peter will risk everything to find out.
for fans of: peter pan prequels, middle grade books about pirates
3. peter pan in scarlet by geraldine mccaughrean
the authorized sequel to j. meter. barrie’s peter pan!
Twenty years have passed since Wendy, John and Michael first traveled to Neverland and had their intrepid adventures with Peter Pan. now they, along with the lost boys, have done the one thing peter can’t.
they have grown.
But when everyone starts having mysterious nightmares, one thing becomes clear.
pedro is in danger.
To save him, they must return to neverland one last time.
for fans of: the sequels of peter pan, the disney animated movie peter pan: return to neverland
4. Captain Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Young Man by J.V. deer
When James Matthew arrives at Eton University, it doesn’t take long for his classmates to brand him an outcast.
Despite his ruthlessness, James Matthew (derisively called King Jas.) is determined to become the most renowned freshman in the history of Eton University.
But when his thirst for notoriety leads him to embark on a deadly quest, his dream of discovering a magical island quickly turns into an inescapable nightmare.
for fans of: captain hook, villain origin stories, peter pan prequels
5. ever never ever by zoe barton
It’s summer vacation and eleven-year-old Ashley is bored. Her parents are always busy with work and her friends are out of town.
ashley has nothing to do and no one to play with.
But all that changes one night when he accidentally catches Peter Pan fighting his shadow.
maybe ashley’s summer isn’t so boring after all!
for fans of: middle grade books with strong female leads
6. hook’s revenge by heidi schulz
Twelve-year-old Jocelyn dreams of becoming a daring pirate like her father, Captain Hook.
but it’s hard being a pirate when you’re stuck in miss eliza crumb-biddlecomb’s school for girls.
So when she receives a mysterious letter from her father daring her to avenge his death at the crocodile’s jaws in Neverland, Jocelyn doesn’t hesitate. she immediately sets sail for neverland.
but being a pirate is a little harder than jocelyn expected.
for fans of: middle grade books about pirates, captain hook, strong female leads.
7. forever neverland by susan adrian
clover and fergus are the great-great-grandchildren of wendy darling (yes, that wendy).
And now Peter Pan wants to take you to Neverland for the adventure of a lifetime!
but clover is a bit nervous, she’s supposed to take care of her brother. Fergus is autistic and not everyone makes him feel welcome. what will happen to him in this magical world?
for fans of: middle grade books with autistic representation, contemporary peter pan sequels, the land of stories series
stories of and peter pan for teenagers
8. the neverland wars by audrey greathouse
Sixteen-year-old Gwen wants nothing to do with magic. she just wants to win her next debate tournament and go to the homecoming dance with the person she has a crush on for a long time.
But when her little sister runs away to Neverland, it’s up to Gwen to bring her back.
Little does Gwen know that she will soon be drawn into a raging war between Neverland and reality.
Will he stay and fight the lost boys or will he crawl back to his life at home?
for fans of: ya portal fantasy books, modern fairy tale retellings
9. never never by brianna shrum
all james hook wants to do is grow up.
but when he meets peter pan, he decides he could try being a boy. at least for a while.
Together, Peter and James travel to Neverland, a magical world full of childhood fantasies that is much more dangerous than it seems.
Soon, James is ready to come home and become a man. But Peter refuses to accept it, leaving James trapped in a world beyond the one he loves.
for fans of: captain hook, versions of dark peter pan, books with a villain as the protagonist
10. unhooked by lisa maxwell
for as long as she can remember, gwendolyn allister has been on the run. Her mom thinks they’re being chased by dangerous monsters, and it turns out she was right.
When Gwen is kidnapped by shadowy creatures and brought to a world filled with sea witches and fairies, she’s not sure who she can trust.
Should I follow the charming fairy tale hero or the roguish young pirate?
With time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen will do anything to save Neverland and return home.
for fans of: books with love triangles, romantic peter pan books
11. second star by alyssa b. sheinmel
Seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling is on a mission to find her missing twin brothers.
When her search leads her to Pete, a charismatic surfer on the run, it’s hard not to be attracted to him.
but even though she’s falling for pete, wendy can’t deny that she also has feelings for pete’s nemesis, drug dealer jas.
Can Pete and Jas help Wendy find her siblings? Or will they break his heart in two?
for fans of: summer romance books, peter pan romance books, beach set books.
12. never ever by sara saedi
Wylie, Josh and Micah Dalton are teenagers living in New York City, but their lives are far from ideal. His parents are getting divorced and Josh is going to jail for driving under the influence of alcohol.
On their last day together as a family, Wylie meets the confident and mysterious Phinn at a party.
When Phinn offers to take Wylie and her siblings to a magical place where no one ages and life is a constant party, she wholeheartedly agrees.
But he soon discovers that living forever isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
for fans of: contemporary fairy tale narratives, peter pan romance books.
13. bread by k.r. thomson
neverland is dying and tink is the only pixie brave enough to do something about it.
Desperate to find a way to save her home, Tink travels to the human world in search of someone who will believe her.
There, he finds a lost boy who flies into the night in search of a life he has long forgotten.
Can she convince him to abandon his quest and help her save the neverland?
for fans of: tinkerbell, peter pan prequels
14. everland by wendy spinale
Sixteen-year-old gwen darling and her younger siblings, joanna and mike, live in a world decimated by the clockwork virus.
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They spend their nights foraging for food and their days avoiding Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer, an evil German scientist who experiments on children to find a cure for the virus.
But when Captain Hanz snatches little Joanna away, Gwen must team up with brash Pete and sharp-shooting Bella to get her back.
for fans of: steampunk, pandemic books, dystopian novels
15. tiger lily by jodi lynn anderson
When fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily meets Peter Pan, there’s no denying the spark between them.
But when Wendy Darling shows up in Neverland, Tiger Lily must soon decide how far she’s willing to go to keep Peter by her side.
for fans of: tiger lily, jodi lynn anderson, books with bittersweet endings
16. fuck by kara swanson
All Claire Kenton wants is to find her missing twin brother who was kidnapped as a child. But when her desperate search leads her to London, she discovers an unimaginable truth.
peter pan is real.
and he needs your help.
trapped in london and hunted by his own lost sons, peter is desperate to return to neverland.
He’ll do anything to get back home, even if it means trusting Claire with his biggest secret.
for fans of: peter pan sequels, fairy tale versions with a twist, standalone books
17. lost in never forest by aiden thomas
Five years ago, Wendy and her two younger brothers disappeared into the woods.
only wendy came back.
wendy has tried to put the trauma behind her, but then kids start disappearing from her hometown. she now she can’t help but question what really happened in the forest all those years ago.
To make matters worse, a boy who he thought only existed in his dreams has fallen from the sky. (literally!)
Together, they must band together to find the missing children and rescue them from a terrible fate.
for fans of: ya mysteries, 2021 peter pan retellings, graveyard kids
18. wendy darling: colleen oakes stars
wendy lives perfectly happily with her family in a wealthy suburb of london and daydreams about booth, the bookseller’s handsome son.
However, Wendy quickly forgets all that when Peter Pan pays her a visit.
Enchanted by Peter’s divine powers, Wendy and her siblings eagerly fly off to Neverland. but what awaits them there is anything but dreamlike.
Will wendy be able to escape from the boy who desires her, or will she be trapped in an eternal nightmare?
for fans of: already fantasy romance, peter pan romance books
19. the wendy by erin michelle sky and steven brown
more than anything, wendy darling wants to captain her own ship. but in 1789, the royal navy does not allow women.
Desperate to prove her worth, she joins the British Home Office and underground services as a fortune teller.
your mission?
to help england fight against a new impossible enemy: magic.
but life in the secret service is not what she thought it would be. And it turns out that the only person on her side is public enemy number one: Peter Pan.
for fans of: historical fantasy books, independent books
20. straight till morning by liz braswell
All sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling has ever dreamed of is visiting Neverland and meeting her childhood hero, Peter Pan.
but his family gets tired of his foolish imagination.
In a last ditch effort to grow her up, Wendy’s parents plan to send her to Ireland as a governess, a fate she’s desperate to escape.
So when Captain Hook comes to her window with a dangerous proposition, Wendy makes a deal with the devil.
Finally, Wendy is on her way to never landing, but an unexpected danger lurks on the horizon.
for fans of: the disney original animated film, the twisted tale series
21. all the children loved by katrina monroe
When her overbearing Grandma Wendy suffers a heart attack, fourteen-year-old Madge Darling seizes the opportunity to run away and find her real mother.
But along the way, Madge is kidnapped by the wild Peter Pan and taken to a dangerous island called Neverland.
Can Madge survive the twisted pan games and discover the unsettling price of her eternal youth?
for fans of: and horror books, peter pan horror stories
22. lost girl by chanda hahn
wendy doesn’t remember anything about neverland, or the experiments they did to her there as a child.
Seven years later, all Wendy wants is to put her unknown past behind her. But when strange shadows begin to haunt her, Wendy’s dream of a normal life turns into a waking nightmare.
just when all seems lost, a mysterious boy named peter appears and tells wendy about a magical place called neverwood academy.
Can wendy trust peter or will the shadows drag her back to the neverland of her childhood?
for fans of: already a paranormal romance
23. love for k. anchor
When Wendy Darling first arrives in Chicago, she’s not sure what to expect.
but she definitely wasn’t expecting a mysterious boy named peter to show up at her window and invite her to a party.
What starts out as a harmless night on the town quickly turns into a race against time as Wendy and Peter hurtle through the city’s subway.
Can wendy find the courage to make it through the night and make sure everyone else does too?
for fans of: the wicker king, the weight of the stars, suspense books, 2021 peter pan retellings
24. never ever by shari arnold
Since seventeen-year-old Livy Cloud lost her little sister to leukemia, she has spent every free moment at Seattle Children’s Hospital reading to patients and keeping memories of her sister.
But when Livy meets a cute boy named Meyer, she finds herself drawn into a world of mischief and adventure.
Can livy learn to love again or will she get lost in neverland?
for fans of: books about grief, contemporary romance
25. second star for j. meter. sullivan
wendy darling’s first mission as captain of the londonierre brigade is to find the legendary james hooke, a man lost in unknown space almost a hundred years before.
Willing to risk everything to prove herself, Wendy races to a mysterious planet called Neverland.
To accomplish her mission, Wendy must decide whether to trust the elegant Hook or the mischievous mechanic who goes by the name of Pan.
and she needs to decide quickly…
for fans of: science fiction, books set in space, the lunar chronicles series
26. tink and wendy by kelly ann jacobson
When Peter and Wendy’s granddaughter, Hope Darling, discovers Tinker Bell crying over the graves of her two missing friends, she has a lot of questions.
As Hope gains the fairy’s trust, Tink begins to share her version of the famous story and the role she played in Peter and Wendy’s ultimate fate.
for fans of: queer books now, 2021 peter pan retellings, books with lgbtq+ representation
27. tiger heart by peter david
When paul’s one-week-old sister dies suddenly, their mother is heartbroken. Desperate to keep his family from falling apart, Paul travels to a magical world called Anywhere.
There, he must team up with a mysterious figure called the Boy to fight the pirates along with the fairy fiddlefix and a gang of young wanderers
for fans of: peter david, coming of age novels
28. never ever by margot mcgovern
ever since seventeen-year-old kit learmonth’s parents drowned in a boating accident, she has refused to live in reality.
I’d rather fill his head with the fantastic stories of pirates and mermaids from his childhood.
But when Kit tries to take her own life, her uncle sends her to a boarding school for mentally ill teenagers.
Can Kit leave Neverland behind and find her way back to reality?
for fans of: books on mental illness, dark tales of peter pan
29. hook by k. r. thomson
archie jameson has always dreamed of adventure.
But after he’s kidnapped and sent to Blackbeard’s pirate crew, he begins to think adventure isn’t all it seems.
Through a strange twist of fate, Archie is appointed captain of one of Blackbeard’s many ships: the Jolig Roger.
As he traverses the high seas, Archie makes decisions that will ultimately seal his fate and lead him to become the infamous Captain Hook.
for fans of: captain hook, villain origin stories, self-published books
30. never again by lani lenore
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Fifteen-year-old wren and his siblings are orphans. they dream of the day they will be adopted, but no one wants to take all three of them away.
Desperate to keep her family together, Wren dreams of escaping.
But wren gets more than she bargained for when a magical boy kidnaps her and takes her to an island at the edge of the universe, where all dreams go.
Can Wren find his way back home to his brothers? Or will this strange island, with its deadly games, swallow her whole?
for fans of: dark and fantasy, self-published books
31. the promised land by kaiu shirai and illustrated by posuka demizu
Emma, Norman, and Ray are the smart older kids at the Grace Field House orphanage.
cared for by a mysterious woman they call “mama”, they lack nothing.
But all that changes when Emma learns a horrible and deadly truth. Turns out her peaceful life at the orphanage isn’t so idyllic after all.
for fans of: japanese manga, peter pan horror stories, graphic novels
32. Nora & lauren nicolle taylor teapot
It’s 1953 and Kettle is a Japanese-American boy who grew up in an internment camp. Now homeless, he hides in abandoned underground tunnels with his gang of lost boys.
On the outside, eighteen-year-old Nora has a perfect life. a high-society family, a lovely home, and a father with a successful career.
but appearances are deceiving.
When fate brings Kettle and Nora together, can the two find much-needed healing?
for fans of: Japanese American depiction books, historical fiction novels, Japanese internment books
33. surviving tiger lily by mandy nachampassack-maloney
neverland… a tropical paradise or an island plagued by terrible monsters? before his sister was murdered, tiger lily would have said the first thing. now that the little tigress is gone, her older sister tiger lily is determined to find out if it’s the last thing.
tiger lily will have to face fairies, lost children, and gods before she gets the answers she seeks.
for fans of: peter pan retells tiger lily, and books with strong female leads, and books by indigenous authors
34. jenny hickman’s frying pan
Since her parents died, Vivienne has been moved from one foster family to another. But just a few days before her eighteenth birthday, Vivienne is suddenly hospitalized for mysterious symptoms that no one can explain.
Doctors may be baffled, but her mysterious new friend, Deacon, claims she has a never-activated gene.
Her implausible diagnosis comes with a warning: she is about to become an unwitting test subject for the humanitarian organization in search of order and knowledge, or hook.
vivienne can either escape to neverland kensington academy and learn to fly (did she really say fly?) or risk staying and becoming a human lab rat.
for fans of: and science fiction books, unique accounts of peter pan
35. cheshire crossing written by andy weir and illustrated by sarah andersen
When Wendy, Alice and Dorothy meet at a magical boarding school called Cheshire Crossing, they soon stir up trouble. When Alice steals Dorothy’s silver slippers, the three teens find themselves thrown from one magical world to another.
But their journeys between dimensions have unintended consequences: they accidentally bring together the evil witch and Captain Hook in a deadly supervillain love marriage!
To stop them, the girls will have to combine all of their powers and team up with a ragtag group of unlikely allies. but will it be enough?
for fans of: ya alice in wonderland, fairy tale crossovers, ya the wizard of oz retells
36. the wendybird written by wmw and illustrated by thabfu
Wendy Darling is a headstrong 17-year-old girl who dreams of escaping her monotonous life and her strict family for a life of adventure, just like the heroes of her stories.
But what will she do when adventure really knocks on her door?
Now it’s up to Wendy to save Neverland from Captain Hook and the strange beasts that torment its inhabitants.
for fans of: webtoons, gender-reversed peter pan remakes, finding wonderland
Peter Pan stories for adults
37. lost boy: the true story of captain hook by christina henry
Before he became the infamous Captain Hook, he was just Peter’s first lost boy and his favorite.
But when Hook dares to question Peter’s reckless leadership and the dangers of Neverland, the friendship sours and fighting breaks out.
Peter claims that Captain Hook is a black-hearted villain. peter also says that in neverland, you can be young and happy forever.
pedro lies.
for fans of: captain hook, versions of dark peter pan, books with a villain as the protagonist
38. peter darling by austin chant
for a time, peter lived with wendy darling in the real world. But ten years later, Peter has grown tired of being an adult. he misses neverland.
When peter decides to return to the magical home of his youth, he hopes that neverland and the lost boys will welcome him with open arms.
but it doesn’t take long to realize it’s no longer needed.
The only person who really missed Peter is his old nemesis, Captain James Hook. As the two rivals pick up where they left off, Peter can’t help but be drawn to hooking up in a way he’s never felt before.
what is this new feeling between them? peter is determined to find out.
for fans of: mm romance, books with lgbtq+ representation
39. wendy, darling by a. c. wise
After Wendy returns from Neverland, she is sent to St. Bernadettes, an asylum for the mentally insane. There, Wendy quickly learns to lock away the truths of her past in order to survive.
years later, wendy has grown up. now she is a wife, mother and survivor.
But his peaceful life is threatened one night when Peter Pan revisits the beloved residence.
and this time, he’s here for wendy’s daughter, jane.
for fans of: feminist reimaginings, dark peter pan sequels, circe
40. the lost girls of laurie fox
the women of the dear family are cursed. once they start to grow, inevitably everyone gets heartbroken and crazy.
wendy is determined to break the pattern of madness of five generations. But when she falls in love with an immature man named Freeman, she begins to worry if she can really escape the curse after all.
for fans of: female fiction, peter pan sequels
41. second star to the right by mary alice monroe
faye o’neill, a recently divorced single mother, moves to london to start a new job and a new life.
But when Faye and her two children move into an old Victorian flat, a strange light begins to appear in the nursery at night.
To make matters worse, Faye’s downstairs neighbor is a worryingly handsome professor named Jack.
And though she’s given up on men, there’s no denying the spark between them.
for fans of: contemporary romance, magical realism books
42. lost girl by nazarea andrews
college was supposed to be a new beginning for gwendolyn. Nobody there knew of the death of his parents or of his hallucinations of a magical island.
But all that changes when a boy named peter sits next to gwendolyn at one of her lectures.
He looks so much like the mysterious boy from the island of her dreams.
gwen can’t help but wonder if her childhood fantasies aren’t as fictional as she once thought.
for fans of: new adult books, mental health books, peter pan romances
43. hook’s tale: being the tale of an unfairly villainous pirate written by himself by john leonard pielmeier
long before he was the infamous captain of the jolly rodger, he was just a fourteen year old boy named james cook.
When his father is lost at sea, James is sent to boarding school where he struggles to fit in with his peers.
Things go from bad to worse when an unfortunate accident lands him on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean.
but that’s where his story really begins.
for fans of: peter pan stories about captain hook, books told from the perspective of the villain, gregory maguire
44. the robber boy by gerald brom
When Peter Pan saves fourteen-year-old Nick from murderous drug dealers, Nick is too eager to fly with Peter to a magical paradise.
but paradise is not what nick expected.
To survive, Nick must now fight a deadly war against monsters called “Flesh Eaters”.
Will Nick learn to fight amongst the “demons”, Peter’s savage tribe of lost and stolen children, or will he die trying?
for fans of: dark versions of peter pan, portal fantasy books
45. alias hook by lisa jensen
captain james benjamin hook has been stuck in neverland playing the villain of a pack of mischievous kids for as long as he can remember.
But all that changes when grown woman Stella Parrish breaks Peter’s rules and finds herself in Neverland.
stella has always believed in fairy tales. So when the magical forces of Neverland begin to open up to her, Hook can’t help but hope that her chance at freedom has finally arrived.
for fans of: peter pan stories about captain hook, peter pan romance books
have you read any of these peter pan stories?
Hot surfer dudes, radioactive fallout, killer shadows, and alien body snatchers: These witty Peter Pan narratives have it all.
So, if you’re looking for a book that captures the fantastical magic of neverland, I hope these 45 book recommendations will get you started.
Now I come to you—
In the comments, share a peter pan story from this list that you’ve already read and one you just added to your tbr!
if you love peter pan stories, you might as well enjoy:
- already alice in wonderland tells again that will make you lose your mind