In Maura Jortner's funny and spirited debut novel, a stouthearted girl brings to bear all the cleverness, courage, and morality she can muster as she survives an impossible and terrifying situation.
Lauren is not old enough to be living on her own, nor is she old enough for a job. But at age 12, Lauren spends her days pretending to be Mouse, a 16-year-old amusement park walkway sweeper at "America's most famous amusement park"; her nights are spent sleeping on the top floor of the Haunted House of Horrors. One hundred and two days ago, after a "perfect" day at the park, her struggling mother snuck away while Lauren was on the Cursed Twirling Teacups ride. Lauren knew in her "deepest heart of hearts" that her mother was not coming back. The tenacious and clever tween snagged an employee shirt and a broken name badge with the word "Mouse" on it. Lauren thinks she's managing reasonably well, balancing a life of rules and "possibilities" (not lies--"a possibility... could be true"). Bad weather is coming, though, and Mouse's fragile pretense may not be able to withstand the storm.
Lauren's poignant, humorous first-person narrative, filled with colorful "curses" ("crap weasels with skinny, scary chickens on top") immediately pulls readers onto her side, even as they suspect that her lifestyle is not sustainable. The vivid, remarkable behind-the-scenes details of Lauren's daily survival arrangements, along with well-developed characters, and a timely and realistic depiction of a family in crisis make 102 Days of Lying About Lauren both relevant and engrossing. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor