Orphanland

Willa is 11 and has lived at the Southern Ohio Children’s Home since her mother died from opioids when Willa was 7. She loves it there and intends to never leave. Mercy, the woman who runs the Home, always needs more money to keep the place running. Willa has other kids her age at the home who are good friends. The latest to come, Kacey, is non-binary. Willa and Kacey become best friends. When they find some hidden diaries left by Mercy’s great-aunt (who had taken Mercy in when she was in her teens), and they discover an abandoned school with a frightening history nearby, they have two mysteries to solve. While all this is happening, the future of the Home is threatened.

Author Lauren Fischer has written a compelling story with interesting characters and a couple of mysteries woven through. There are some problems with the book, though. There are several story lines for young readers to track — the opioid crisis in small towns, lack of public support for orphanages, the horrors of some reform schools, and more. Unrealistically, five prepubescent boys and girls share a bedroom. This a good story with a real lack of focus and research.