It always seems impossible until it's done-Nelson Mandela
We were driving to New Jersey this morning and I was in the back reading.
The good news is that my Mom had a box of tissues on the seat where I was sitting.
The bad news is that I used so many, the box now needs to be replaced.
All the Impossible Things by Lindsay Lackey
This book.
These characters.
That giant old tortoise.
All blow together in one nearly perfect book.
I was hooked by the first chapter. If I was in my mom's car then, there would have been a shortage of Kleenex by the end of the book.
11 year old Ruby "Red" is no stranger to foster homes. Her mom is incarcerated and her Gamma, who had been taking care of her, died of cancer. Ruby's latest placement is with Celine and Jackson at their "Groovy Petting Zoo." It is there she befriends next door neighbor, young videographer Marvin, Tuck the Tortoise, many other animals and her new foster parents.
Red counts the days patiently until the day her mom is released from jail and they will be reunited. But when the letters she writes to her all get returned, Red takes a difficult journey to find out the difference between
hard and
impossible and realizes that maybe,
"living without something-even something you really need-isn't the end. Maybe it's the beginning of something better."
This book tugged at my heart. It made my stomach turn. There were times I wanted to just shake Red up. I knew what I wanted for her and just hoped she would discover it, too, in spite of the pain. "Pain is funny...Sometimes it tricks us into thinking one thing is wrong, when really it is something else."
"Every good story starts in one place and ends somewhere else." Find yourself a good solid block of time (with a cup of hot cocoa on the side) to be there where it starts and to see how it ends.
I love having debut authors on my Newbery contender list. Lindsay Lackey is one of them, for sure.
September 3 find your fans of Barbara O'Connor, Nikki Loftin and Natalie Lloyd and twirl over to them with this book. Oh, and don't say I didn't warn you about the sniffles...♡
I met Lindsay at ALA and am sad we didn't take a leap together. It is very POSSIBLE that I will be soliciting her for a Skype visit in early winter. When that happens, a leap will happen.
P.S.
If you were at NerdCampMI, you might have remembered Laura Shovan's response when asked "What are you sick and tired of?" She is sick and tired of "boy vs. girl books" and "periods." This is a book for all readers, girls or boys, who love realistic fiction with a sprinkle of magic. Additionally, Red gets her period during a very intense part of the book. It happens, she deals with it and we move on. Please don't shy away from it now. For Red, getting her period not only symbolizes coming of age but so much more. Family, independence, maturity, motherhood, and, the simple impossibility of birth.
