Alright, so I’m back to that middle grade reading spree! Granted, it hasn’t felt like much of a spree yet since this is only the third middle grade book I’ve read this summer…

Spree or not, I received a free copy of All the Impossible Things from Netgalley and read the whole thing in one night.

The first thing I want to say is that I want to meet Gandalf the dog and give her treats and play fetch and be her friend. Really, I want to meet and befriend all the animals.

Second, this book was beautifully written and made me cry more than once. Even though at times it was heart-breaking, it was also heart-warming and up lifting.

In some ways, All the Impossible Things was a book of contradictions. There were times when on the surface, it felt like not much was happening, but below the surface, everything was happening. There may not have been much as far as external action or adventure, but the internal growth was incredible.

All the Impossible Things is a story about a girl with magic wind adjusting to life in a new foster home, one with two loving retired people and a whole bunch of amazing animals: dogs, goats, horses, a donkey, chickens, and a giant tortoise. The author did a fantastic job bringing the setting and all its four-legged inhabitants to life. The sense of wonder never flagged. Additionally, there was never a page with no emotional beat. Red/Ruby was constantly learning, growing, being set back, and moving forward throughout the book.

As someone who is used to reading genre fiction, this book was quieter than what I’m used to, but I was never bored with. I was invested enough in the character and her arc that despite its quietness, I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen to Red. It was a good reminder to me that the action in a story can be small as long as what is happening inside a character is compelling.

I can’t really comment on the accuracy of the foster-related representation. I have no first hand experience with foster care, and only have acquaintances who have adopted children through the foster care system.

I can say the sentences, character and story are beautiful, thought provoking, and emotional. Based on that, I’d recommend All the Impossible Things.

This book has heart! Such a big heart. From the very first chapter, Lindsay's words make you fall in love with Red, and has you wishing for good things for her. Everything about Red makes the reader wish they could take her in themselves and give her a family and love. Until you meet Celine and Jackson, that is. It is clear from every description and every situation that these two are beautiful souls. Between these characters, Marvin and his family, and the quirky animals at the petting zoo, Lindsay creates a world in which there is so much hope and so much beauty in conquering what was once thought impossible. Loved this story! Loved these characters! Loved it all.

Red has been in the foster care system for three years, after the death of her grandmother and the arrest of her mother for drug possession. She has been in several foster care placements, and has a caring case worker, Ms. Anders, who tries to help as much as she can. When her latest placement doesn't work out, she ends up being placed with the Grooves, an older couple who run a petting zoo with rescued animals. They are kind, helpful, and don't presume that Red wants to be with them any longer than necessary. Red tentatively settles in, and makes friends with a neighbor boy, Marvin, whose family is from Hawaii and who is very interested in film making. Red misses her grandmother, who helped her keep a journal of "impossible things" that they tried to figure out together, and her mother, who shares Red's supernatural abilities to stir up wind and storms with her emotions during heated interchanges. Eventually, Red is allowed visits with her mother, but the joy in this is tempered both by her mother's behavior and also by the fact that her foster mother, Celine, has some serious health concerns. After a incident with Celine's grandsons over Christmas (Red tries to use a rake to protect them from a large rat in the barn, and their mother thinks Red is attacking the boys), Red is moved to another placement, but this turns out to be temporary, and she is soon back with the Grooves. As her mother's custody hearing approaches, Red tries to make a video with Marvin pleading her mother's case with the court, but several incidents make Red doubt whether or not she really wants to be with her mother. How will Red make the best of this impossible situation?
Strengths: The depiction of foster care in this one was very interesting, since it showed Red's less than optimal placement before it showed the Grooves. It also dealt with how Red felt about her mother, and drew a heart rending portrait of a woman who just was not able to care for her daughter. With an increasing number of children in foster care, it's good to have a variety of depictions in middle grade novels to act as "windows and mirrors"; if children identify with the characters, they can know they are not alone, and if they have no experience with foster care, it can teach them to be sympathetic to classmates who might be in that situation. It also shows that even the most ideal foster care placement can run into difficulties, like health problems. Ruby's emotions are realistically portrayed, and I appreciated her grandmother's philosophy about impossible things. The inclusion of the rescue animals and Marvin helped give more hope to Red's story.
Weaknesses: Red and her mother's ability to raise windstorms is odd and never really explained. Every time an incident occurred, it ripped me right out of the realism of the rest of the story.
What I really think: I am debating this one. The details about foster care were so intriguing that I was willing to forget about the supernatural part of the story, but the cover makes Red look about six years old, and the magical quality of the cover doesn't make this appealing to students who want problem novels. I enjoyed this one and will probably purchase it, but it's not a book that made me want to buy it immediately.

Red was a character who resonated deeply with me. Her fears and her strengths were so genuine, and her story is not so uncommon. There are kids out there who would relate with her struggles. The whimsical magic of her wind power aided the story and did not come off as corny. Her ruffled and sometimes raging emotions were mimicked by the weather, which I think accurately portrayed how it is to be a pre-teen girl. Loved this book and can't wait to put it in our kids section!

All the Impossible Things tells the story of Ruby "Red" Byrd who has an unusual talent: she can conjure up winds and even storms to match her moods. This story reminded me a little of Savvy. Like Savvy, this story features realistic characters and settings, with a little fantasy mixed in. In Savvy, we understand the origins of the fantastical elements. With this book, we are never given any insight as to why and how Red, and her mother, create their winds. I didn't mind the fantastical part of the story, but I wish there would have been some explanation for it.

Everything else about this story was incredible. I liked Red, and understood her immediately. The delicate subject of Red being a child in the foster care system was handled beautifully. Red's initial distrust of and hesitation with people were totally understandable --. even with a couple as wonderful as Celine and Jackson. I loved all the descriptions of the animals, and I fell in love with Tuck the giant tortoise as much as Red did.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm thankful to NetGalley for the advanced copy. I look forward to adding this book to my library collection in September.

As a school psychologist I have worked with children from preschool through high school currently living in the foster care system. Some of those children have adjusted remarkedly well and others who struggled and grew up resentful and unhappy. I wish this book had been there for all of these children when they were in elementary school because I feel as though they could have known that they were not alone and that there were other children out there with the same experiences.

Red is such a wonderfully complex and complicated character. Her struggle between wanting to be reunited with her mother and remaining with her foster family was one I imagine so many children go through. That feeling they are somehow betraying their biological parent is one that can very easily overwhelm them. Red's relationship with Tuck was endearing and I was so happy when she found a kindred soul she felt she could open up to (even if it was a tortoise who couldn't actually talk to her).

Red's initial resistance to Jackson and Celine was realistic. She didn't dislike them, but she didn't know how to trust them. Add to that her desire to be reunited with her mother and you could understand why she would not want to get too comfortable in a new place. I loved watching her open up to them and embrace being a part of their family.

The depiction of Red's mother was one that is seen so often. I don't think she was a bad person, but one who was a little selfish and in way over her head and didn't seek out the supports that could have helped her. Bad habits and patterns are so hard to break.

The only part of the book that I couldn't get fully behind was making the winds that Red experiences be literal rather than metaphors. Having the winds cause actual damage took some of the realism out of the book, but may help children who read this be better able to put their feelings into words or understand what they are feeling.

Touching and at times heartbreaking, I expect this book to rise to the top of a lot of reader's Best of 2019 lists. Read with a hankie or Kleenex at the ready.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the characters and the plot. However, I could have gone without the wind and the singing of the stars. I understand that the wind represents the feelings, but I think it puts the story farther away from reality which, in turn makes the book less believable and relatable for the kids reading it.

It's hard for me to put into words how much this book touched me. This is not only a beautiful debut, but an honest, complicated look at the foster care system, and how grief and love can coexist all at the same time for a foster child. I was cheering for Red and her mother at every turn, but also loved the way Celine and Jackson held space for Red and her feelings in their animal filled home. This is a powerful, much needed addition to the middle grade cannon. I will be sharing it with those I love for a long time!

All the Impossible Things was a magical and heartwarming story about a girl who is finding the true meaning of family. She is struggling with staying loyal to what she thinks is the right thing to do, while slowly realizing that perhaps there are better things out there for her. I found Ruby's character to be very relatable and she'll stick with me for a while.

Ruby "Red" has recently lost her grandma and was placed in foster care while her mom served a prison sentence. Red is a brave and resilient girl. She also has a gift/curse. Her emotions control the wind. Red's journey leads her to a new foster home with 2 loving parents who run a petting zoo. Many new people and animals enter Red's life. As Red is adjusting to her new foster home, her mom makes an appearance. Will Red fight to be with her mom or with her new foster parents? This is a sweet story about love, loss, and what it means to be a family.

What a beautiful story! I loved the way the power of the wind symbolized the grief and anger Red felt through her journey with losing her Gamma and being separated from her mother. I think that this is a perfect middle school read especially for students who are going through their own sort of loss.

All the Impossible Things by Lindsay Lackey is a wonderfully written book about a girl who struggles through the foster care system in hopes that her mother will overcome addiction. Red is a pre-teen girls forced to grow up and face adult situations and through the love and care of her new foster family, she learns that love is not impossible.
All the Impossible Things is a captivating story that had me laughing and crying at the same time. Lackey writes a very touching story about a girl who navigates the foster system with courage and determination.

I received this ARC from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There was so much I liked about this book. Fans of Lynda Mullaly Hunt's One for the Murphys will find that Red's story of being in the foster care system resonates strongly with them. I loved Red. She's a character with a lot of depth who is easy to root for early in the book. Celine, Jackson and Martin are all equally likeable too.

The one aspect of this story that I really didn't love was that it crossed from realistic fiction to fantasy. I could have done without Red's wind and Celine's power over the stars. Initially I tried to convince myself that it must be metaphorical but it became clear that was not the intent. With so many kids in foster care, many with biological families and situations that breast a striking resemblance to Red's, I wished this had been kept truly realistic through and through. With an ever increasing movement to make sure kids see themselves in books, I wish Red's anger and fear manifested in a more relatable way.