All the Impossible Things By Lindsay Lackey Is The Perfect Debut Novel. #WOW #amazingread

A bit of magic, a sprinkling of adventure, and a whole lot of heart collide in All the Impossible Things, Lindsay Lackey's extraordinary middle-grade novel about a young girl navigating the foster care system in search of where she belongs.

"Wise and wondrous, this is truly a novel to cherish.” —Katherine Applegate, New York Times–bestselling author of Wishtree

An Indies Introduce Selection

Red’s inexplicable power over the wind comes from her mother. Whenever Ruby “Red” Byrd is scared or angry, the wind picks up. And being placed in foster care, moving from family to family, tends to keep her skies stormy. Red knows she has to learn to control it, but can’t figure out how.

This time, the wind blows Red into the home of the Grooves, a quirky couple who run a petting zoo, complete with a dancing donkey and a giant tortoise. With their own curious gifts, Celine and Jackson Groove seem to fit like a puzzle piece into Red’s heart.

But just when Red starts to settle into her new life, a fresh storm rolls in, one she knows all too well: her mother. For so long, Red has longed to have her mom back in her life, and she’s quickly swept up in the vortex of her mother’s chaos. Now Red must discover the possible in the impossible if she wants to overcome her own tornadoes and find the family she needs.

The 411:

What an amazing debut novel. Saturday I woke at 6 AM before the house woke. I grabbed this book, headed to a chair with my coffee and didn't move until 8:15 AM. The book was amazing. I loved everything about it.

Ruby or Red as she likes to go by has been shuffled from Foster care to Foster care and she is counting down the days until her mom is out of prison and she can be with her. Life hasn't been easy for her. Her loving grandma died of cancer and her mom is in prison. She doesn't want to let anyone in because it is all temporary. She longs for the day her mom is home and they once again live together until she meets her new foster family Celine and Jackson Grooves. They own a petting zoo and want Red to be part of their family on her own time.

She becomes friends with Tuck a tortoise who lives with the Grooves and reluctantly friends with Marvin a little boy her age who lives close by and is in her class.  Living at the zoo is nothing like Red has ever experienced. She has a beautiful room all to herself, a family who gives her space when she needs it and makes sure she is happy and feels loved all things Red needs but only wants from her mother.

Ruby's prize possession is a notebook her grandmother gave her. It is filled with a list of impossible things that her grandmother and she came up with. She adds to it often. Her grandmother's lesson is that nothing is impossible and only feels that way until it is done.

Ruby's finding herself feeling settled but now the letter's she writes to her mother are coming back unopened. She is devastated and when she finds out her mother was released she is confused.

This book is full of heart and hope. I couldn't put it down. The characters are wonderful and I was in love with Celine and Jackson. They are exactly the type of foster parents I would wish for any child in the system.

The story felt so real. The perfect balance between happy and sad, heart wrenching and heart warming.

Written for middle schoolers, but you won't be able to put it down.

I hope for many more books by Lindsay Lackey!

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Disclaimer: I received an ARC for my honest opinion. No monetary compensation was offered.