The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore

For five preteen Camp Forevermore girls, a simple overnight kayaking trip turns horrifying when their group leader dies mysteriously and the girls must find their way back alone. One insists on remaining with the corpse; the others leave and promise to send help. Interspersed with their dramatic quest are the girls' individual stories—each voiced by a separate narrator—before and after their Forevermore experience. Soneela Nankani is precocious medical student Nita, who becomes a troubled mother of two. Andee's story, read by Tavia Gilbert, is told by her sister Kayla, who chronicles the peripatetic childhood driven by their self-absorbed single mother's whims. Nicol Zanzarella is Isabel, who finds brief happiness in marriage. Emily Woo Zeller chases Dina, who finds only disappointment in Los Angeles. Sophie Amoss is Siobhan, who narrates the camp ordeal and elliptically reveals her adulthood as a psychology researcher. Fu's (For Today I Am a Boy) exploration of the harrowing intersecting moment among young people who barely know each other is a fascinating puzzle of reactions and reverberations.