102 DAYS OF LYING ABOUT LAUREN comes out June 20, 2023, published by Holiday House.
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After being abandoned by her mother in a most unusual place, a defiant heroine sticks to her plan for staying hidden—even though getting caught could mean saving her life.
Twelve-year-old Mouse calls an amusement park home.
Nobody notices her, and that's the way she likes it. Mouse sweeps the streets and wears a uniform she “borrowed” and sleeps on the top floor of the Haunted House of Horrors. She knows which security guards to avoid, eats the bagel left out each morning for the Ghost of Summer (a popular theme park legend), and even has the taco guy convinced that her lunch is paid for. She has her special hiding methods down to a science.
But one morning, a girl named Cat comes looking for Lauren Suszek. Cat notices her, and Mouse doesn’t like it. Mouse cannot let this nosy pest find out who she really is! If Mouse gets discovered living in the park, Mama might come back for her, and Mouse doesn’t want that. Or—even worse?—Mama might not come back at all.
Mouse knows she can lose this girl without blowing her cover. She just has to follow her rules. A carefully constructed life in the park is all she needs. Right?
Anchored by memorable characters and an extraordinary setting, Maura Jortner’s brilliant debut novel is bursting with grit, humor, and heart.
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PRAISE FOR
102 DAYS
OF LYING ABOUT LAUREN
"Hilarious, absorbing, and immensely endearing, here is a story that will have your whole heart. This book is alive with 'Park Magic.'" —Chris Baron, author of Sydney Taylor Notable Book The Magical Imperfect
"Told with the feel of a classic, 102 Days of Lying about Lauren is a truly special book full of hope, friendship, and heart—all the things you need to weather the worst of storms." —Ally Malinenko, author of Ghost Girl
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My favorite place in the world
Can you guess where I am?
SHELF AWARENESS
BOOK OF THE YEAR
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.
One hundred and two days ago, 12-year-old Lauren's struggling mother brought her to "America's most famous amusement park" then snuck away while Lauren was on the Cursed Twirling Teacups ride. The clever tween snagged an employee shirt and a broken name badge. Since then, she has been sleeping in the Haunted House of Horrors by night and pretending to be a 16-year-old amusement park walkway sweeper by day. Lauren thinks she's managing reasonably well, but bad weather is coming, and her fragile pretense may not be able to withstand the storm.
Lauren's poignant, humorous first-person narrative 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
Announcing... my next book!
KEEPERS OF THE MARSH, coming summer 2025
"Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale"
Hans Christian Andersen
