The Train to Impossible Places

August 15, 2018
One green flash is all it takes to turn Suzy Smith's sensible life on its head.Suzy figures it's only her imagination; after all, her parents didn't see it. But later that night, the 11-year-old physics enthusiast awakens to discover a railway line going straight through the downstairs hall. And then the Impossible Postal Express arrives. This train, which runs on "fusion bananas," makes deliveries "from Trollville to the five corners of reality," also known as the Union of Impossible Places: "all the weird and magical places that don't quite fit anywhere else." The Postmaster, a pale-green-skinned troll called Wilmot, deputizes Suzy as a Postal Operative. Suzy is to make her first delivery to the Lady Crepuscula, a wicked sorceress. When the package's contents call out to Suzy, she discovers Prince Frederick, who has been turned into a frog in a plot to overthrow the kingdom. Suzy must help Frederick and save the Union, but there's something he's not telling her. The third-person narration is marked by whimsical humor with a healthy dose of irony. A cast of unforgettable characters includes a brown bear that is yellow (she's a blonde), underwater ghosts, and a group of overexcited retired postal trolls. Suzy has light brown skin, and there's diversity in the trolls' skin colors, but other human characters are assumed white.All aboard for an adventure like no other--readers will be delighted to learn it's just the first. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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November 5, 2018
Hearing strange noises, Suzy, a physics-loving 11-year-old, wakes to find a train track being constructed through the middle of her house while her parents sleep. When a magical train passes through, Suzy steals aboard it and learns that it makes deliveries throughout the Union of Impossible Places, including “cities, realms, worlds, and dimensions, plus a few spaces no one can quite agree on a name for” using “interdimensional engineerin’, a dash of magic, and a few bits of double-sided sticky tape” as well as fuzzics, which is “like physics, only fuzzier.” After an enchanted snow globe on board begs for her help, Suzy finds herself in the middle of a power struggle involving secret political machinations that are hidden from the ordinary people of the Union. Though the story feels rushed in places and some characters are left undeveloped, this debut fantasy is full of imaginative locales and fun twists, and readers will enjoy the creativity of Bell’s world and its look at how power left unchecked can corrupt. Ages 10–14.

November 1, 2018
Grades 5-8 Suzy, an 11-year-old budding physicist who thinks her interest in science has begun to set her apart from other children and adults, hears a noise in the night and goes downstairs in her second best pajamas to investigate. She doesn't expect to find a troll laying train tracks in her front hall, much less a full-sized train. Not one to suppress her curiosity, Suzy jumps aboard the train and is deputized as a postie for the Impossible Postal Express, which provides mail service to the entire Union of Impossible Places. Her first delivery to the dreaded Lady Crepuscula goes awry when her parcel, a boy turned into a frog in a snow globe, begs her not to deliver him, and a rollicking adventure ensues reminiscent of Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones. There is plenty of humor to season Bell's debut novel, and the characters and plot are refreshingly well developed and raise serious questions about honor and freedom. Fortunately, there will be more adventures in this first in a projected series. All aboard!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
Suzy Smith doesn't think twice before boarding the troll-run Impossible Postal Express train, which delivers mail to the Union of Impossible Places. However, as a newly deputized postal operative, Suzy faces a steep challenge: her first delivery is to the Union's most powerful sorceress. Bell's smart pace guides Suzy smoothly through one impossibility after another without bogging readers down in reality-based objections; spindly line drawings capture the action.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2018
When Suzy Smith discovers a railroad run by trolls tracking through her family's living room, she doesn't think twice before climbing aboard to discover where the train is headed, and why. It turns out the train is the Impossible Postal Express, delivering mail to the Union of Impossible Places? all the weird and magical places that don't quite fit anywhere else ?and Suzy can't wait to see more of it. However, having been deputized as a postal operative, Suzy faces a steep challenge: her first mission is to deliver a package to Lady Crepuscula, the most powerful sorceress in the Union. Bell sets a smart pace, guiding Suzy smoothly through one impossibility after another in a way that keeps readers off-balance without bogging them down in reality-based objections; spindly line drawings help picture the action. At the same time, Bell cannily reveals the superstructure of a plot that involves the fate of all the Impossible Places, and even finesses a particularly hard-to-swallow reversal in a way that makes sense. The entire edifice is constructed and torn down in less than twenty-four hours in Suzy's time?the kind of efficiency and solid storytelling that a troll would admire?while promising potential future adventures for Suzy. anita l. burkam

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)