LOCKED IN

A mysterious puppet master tests an unlikely combination of North Carolina teens by locking them in a room together.

When a new escape room located in a half-empty mall puts out a call for testers, four teens apply: Tony Wells’ ambitious parents are pushing him to enhance his leadership skills, Bea Gonzalez loves puzzles and hopes to someday be a business owner running an escape room, Devin King ran away from his foster home and needs the offered compensation of $100, and Anna Blum wants some extra spending money for an upcoming trip to New York. The young people don’t know that they’ve been chosen by a man who wants to do an experiment by putting four very different people together and seeing how they’ll react. The shadowy figure manipulates the game, incorporating notes designed to unsettle and confuse the players, which in turn leads them to reveal secrets they’ve been keeping and to confront serious issues in their lives, including racism, social anxiety, parental loss, and unexamined privilege. Each member of the group changes as a result of the experience, causing real shifts in their lives. Reluctant readers will be engaged by the personal dynamics and the real-life issues explored in this accessible novel that feels like The Breakfast Club with an escape-room setting. Tony is white, Bea is cued Latine, Devin is Black, and Anna is Jewish.

Puzzles, friendship, and personal growth form the backdrop of this intriguing story.