All the Impossible Things
by Lindsay Lackey (Author)
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.
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.
Wise and wondrous, this is truly a novel to cherish." --Katherine Applegate, New York Times-bestselling author of Wishtree.
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Red has a secret she wants to keep—she has the ability to affect the wind with her emotions, a trait she inherited from her mother. Red has become a pawn inside the foster care system, and anger and fear create unpredictable storms that she cannot control. Her mother attempts to pull her life together and become a fit parent as she struggles with drug addiction. As a rotating cast of adults move through Red's life and she is shuttled from one family to the next, her sole constant seems to be her social worker, Ms. Anders. That is, until Red is placed with the Grooves, her fifth foster stop in under three years. The couple own a petting zoo and seem to genuinely care for Red, who is conflicted by the growing love she feels for her foster mom and her desire to reunite with her birth mother. Determined to help her mother regain custody at an upcoming hearing, Red works on a special project with her new friend Marvin to prove that just because something is hard, it doesn't mean it is impossible. Excerpts from the notebook Red keeps for the project are peppered throughout the novel. VERDICT This middle grade tale reads like realistic fiction with a supernatural twist as Red's wind spirals and brews literal storms. Lackey tackles difficult topics including addiction and loss with infinite gentleness. Recommended for fiction collections.—Lauren Younger, University of Dallas Library
Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
Eleven-year-old Ruby "Red" Byrd is skeptical when her kindly social worker takes her to live with new foster parents in tiny Bramble, Colo. Jackson and Celine Groove, an older interracial couple, immediately open their hearts to Red, though, and she is drawn to their petting zoo of rescue animals, especially their 400-pound tortoise, Tuck. And gregarious Marvin, who is Hawaiian and the son of Red's respite caregivers, determines to befriend her. But she longs for her mother, who has been in prison for three years following an episode with pill addiction that left Red to fend for herself. Then her mother is released early, creating a literal storm for Red, whose roiling emotions can affect the wind. She longs to control this chaotic power, which infuses magic realism into Lackey's charming, bittersweet debut. Included throughout are heartbreaking glimpses of Red's life before her mother's arrest, as well as Red's letters to her mom, and readers will ache for her as she struggles to reconcile her affection for the Grooves with her fierce love for her troubled mother. Lackey's compassionately drawn story ponders hope, grief, and found family, warming the heart while avoiding an overly neat conclusion. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
An Indies Introduce Selection
A New York Public Library Best Books of 2019 Selection
A 2020 WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Children's Fiction & Nonfiction
A beautiful, nuanced story of how love and grief can coexist. - Mariama J. Lockington, author of For Black Girls Like Me An emotional tale filled with unique characters, heartbreaking realities, and a touch of magical realism. - Booklist Lackey's compassionately drawn story ponders hope, grief, and found family, warming the heart while avoiding an overly neat conclusion. - Publishers Weekly Painful to read—in a good way. - Kirkus Lackey deftly draws readers into Red's tumultuous emotional journey; with its strong narrative voice, interspersed with letters and journal entries in Red's own words, the text resonates with a mixture of hope and hurt, strength and vulnerability. - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV039070 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Homelessness & Poverty
JUV013050 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Orphans & Foster Homes
Parent and child
Children's stories
Foster home care
