From the Publisher
All aboard for an adventure like no other—readers will be delighted to learn it's just the first.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“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 . . . the kind of efficiency and solid storytelling that a troll would admire—while promising potential future adventures for Suzy.” —Horn Book
“A rollicking adventure . . 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!” —Booklist
"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." —Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-08-01
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)
