Sunrise and the Real World

"When Lorraine shows up for her first day as a counselor at Sunrise Academy, she has no idea what to expect. It's 1980, and she's just graduated from college and rented a house in Northeast Harbor near Acadia National Park. A residential treatment center for troubled teens, and the second-to-last-stop before jail, Sunrise is located in an old summer camp on a lake, and soon Lorraine finds herself captivated by the kids, the outdoor experiences, the staff dynamics, and, confusingly, the married director of the program. As Lorraine tries to navigate her conflicting desires, she's faced with the complexities of caring for bruised and battered kids who love and hate her at the same time, just as she loves and hates herself. A series of terrifying events leads to the trailside death of two beloved staff members and unraveling of Sunrise itself. Thirty years later, now a journalist and full-fledged member of the real world, Lorraine is determined to write a book about the murder of her friends and make sense of the year she spent at Sunrise. As grisly details of the events resurface, Lorraine confronts the girl she was then, the woman she has become, and bitter ghosts from her past. This coming-of-age story takes a psychological twist that will keep you long after bedtime, listening for noises in the dark"--