MOUSE

A girl searching for her past finds herself in the right place at the right time in this debut middle-grade tech thriller.

Mouse Gamma is a 12-year-old girl with a bad attitude. She really can’t be blamed; she’s an orphan who never knew her parents. As smart as she is, she seems to never learn her lesson, which makes her all the more engaging. After getting the boot from yet another foster home, she awaits the inevitable return to juvenile hall, but something is different this time. Caught hacking into the database of computer giant Rayburn Tech in search of her birthparents’ identities, Mouse never expected to be remanded to Rickum Academy, a prestigious tech school for computer savants. Attending Rickum may be the biggest break of her unhappy life. She can’t figure out who offered this favor, but she doesn’t let it get in the way of her sarcasm or her suspicions that she was given a scholarship so she could be watched. Technology is everywhere in Stedman’s inventive tale. It is presented with just enough information to keep techies intrigued but not too much to overwhelm the uninitiated. The author even makes writing code sound like fun. Tech is no problem for Mouse, who aces the entrance exam. This computer-hacking prodigy should be destined for mainstream success, but that’s not what she’s after. She’d rather emulate rebel hacker Erik Walters than the influential but controlling tech tycoon Trent Rayburn (both renowned alums). Mouse believes that Rayburn is the man “who created the system that stuck me in foster homes my whole life. The powerful. The elite. The same ones who are keeping me from figuring out who my parents are.” Life gets complicated when unknown forces attack Rickum’s students and faculty. Other incidents point to a cyber-apocalypse, which coincides with Walters’ escaping from prison—and Mouse’s arriving at Rickum, putting her under the scrutiny of the bullying professor Erwin Frink. Because of the uncertainty caused by the rumored doomsday, Botori, the annual hacking contest, is canceled. In this engrossing story, that doesn’t stop Mouse, who believes that continuing to play could help her find what she’s looking for.

An imaginative tale with nonstop action that will delight techies of all ages.