102 DAYS OF LYING ABOUT LAUREN

After Lauren Suszek spends 102 days living inside a theme park, her cousin and a tornado show up on the same day.

The 12-year-old goes by Mouse, since that’s the name printed on what looks like an official employee nametag. Tall for her age, she pretends to be 16, since she’d have to be that old to be a park employee. During the day she sweeps the grounds; at night she sleeps inside the Haunted House of Horrors. She’s been doing that ever since the day Mama took her to the park, put her on a ride, and walked away. Mouse has become friends with Tanner, a teenage employee who says she’s a doppelgänger for his sister, a similarity that evokes a strong emotional reaction in him. When Cat, a tween girl who uses a cane, shows up claiming to be her cousin, Mouse denies it. But when a ferocious storm traps the two of them and Tanner inside the haunted house attraction, Mouse’s world crumbles, walls and all. Debut author Jortner’s writing is smooth and interesting; her setup is good, and the storm chapters are page-turners. However, the story treats the central trauma of Mouse’s abandonment too lightly and resolves it without Mouse herself, a supposedly enterprising character, taking any action, which may disappoint readers. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity among the park employees.

A promising story whose central premise demands deeper exploration.