Book Review: All the Impossible Things

39407710._SY475_Larrabee told me three things about All the Impossible Things by Linsday Lackey:

  1. It has lots of awesome animals, including a giant tortoise named Tuck (after Tuck Everlasting).
  2. It would make me cry.
  3. I would find it impossible to put down.

All were true.

All the Impossible Things is the story of 11-year-old Red. She’s been in foster care since the death of her grandmother and the arrest of her mother on drug charges three years ago.

Like her mother, Red has power over the wind. Whenever she is upset or angry, she struggles to keep her feelings inside for fear of causing a dangerous windstorm.

Red’s latest foster family is an older couple who run the Groovy Petting Zoo. They love animals and books, and they seem like they could be a good fit. But when Red’s mother is released from prison early, she’s no longer sure where she belongs.

All the Impossible Things addresses difficult issues, but it is a hopeful book. I highly recommend it.

 

Book Review: The Revenge of Magic

38724516._SY475_The Revenge of Magic is the first book in a new series by James Riley, author of the Story Thieves books. It’s action-packed and highly entertaining.

Fort Fitzgerald and his father are touring the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC when a giant monster bursts from the ground and attacks the city. Fort gets away safely, but his father is not so lucky.

A few months later, Fort is invited to a top-secret school where kids are being trained to wield destructive magic and healing magic against the “old ones.” He’s eager to fight back against the creatures who took his father, but he may not get the chance. Some of his teachers seem to want him to fail, he’s not sure which of his new classmates he can trust, and he keeps hearing a mysterious voice in his head.

I recommend this book to kids who like magic and mystery. Larrabee liked it too–and he also recommends the second book in the series, The Last Dragon.