The Mystery of Locked Rooms

January 29, 2024
Seventh grader Sarah and her two best friends West and Hannah call themselves the Deltas for their love of puzzles. Their unique and perfectly balanced individual skills aid in their team efforts to solve even the hardest of escape room riddles. Because of their friendship, Sarah—who arrived in Park Glen three years ago—finally feels like she belongs. But when her father is diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and her mother, who is working two jobs, can’t make ends meet, Sarah’s family faces possible foreclosure on their home, meaning they might have to move if they can’t get the money they need, and fast. To help, West and Hannah propose hunting for an alleged treasure left in an abandoned 1950s funhouse built on the outskirts of town by triplets who vacated the lot after one of them died young. In this page-turning thriller, Currie (It Found Us) builds suspense via high-stakes brain teasers in dark rooms and periods of isolation as the Deltas endeavor to solve the biggest, most dangerous series of escape rooms they’ve ever faced. Sarah reads as white; supporting characters are racially diverse. Ages 8–12. Agent: Shannon Hassan, Marsal Lyon Literary.