As we gear up for our Master Class on Writing MG & YA Christian Fantasy, the Write2Ignite team is reading and talking about this popular genre. Registration for the class opens March 1 for the April 13 class with Amy Earls.

In the upcoming weeks, I plan to publish several reviews of fantasy books. In this post, our director, Jean Hall, is leading off with the first. If you search our blog under "fantasy" you'll also find previously reviewed fantasy novels. Check out The Red Bard of Roche by Helena S. George; The Girl, The Ghost, and the Giant by Rebekah Reese, and The King's Feather by our Master Class teacher, Amy Earls.

THE IMPOSSIBLE GIRL

Ava has spent the twelve years of her life in an orphanage, then in a disgusting foster home. She’s had enough of her always being the odd one—the one nobody claims. She’s had enough of merciless teasing and cruel bullying because her unknown parents abandoned her at birth. In desperation, she runs to the only place she feels whole—the Cathedral Tree. Here she is comforted. Here she is soothed by the music that plays only in her head. The music that somehow makes her feel as though she belongs.

But this time the Cathedral Tree opens up and becomes a portal to the strangest world Ava has ever seen. It is filled with magites—people strangely different, but strangely like Ava.

In The Impossible Girl, author Ashley White weaves Ava’s story into a mystery, a who-done-it, a hero’s journey, a fantasy tale, a coming-of-age story, and a tale of finding friendship and family in the most unlikely of places.

It’s a rich middle grade novel filled with witches, vampires, werewolves, fairies, and mermaids of the most likeable kind. Ava discovers that their differences can become their strengths, and that, together, they can fill the holes in all of their lives.

Ava and her new friends discover the vilest of villains and work together to short-circuit their intended evil. But what can a bunch of teens and tweens do against the power these villains brandish? Is their bond of friendship strong enough to destroy the wicked plots?

Readers between grades 3 and 6 will enjoy White’s tale. They are bound to find themselves reflected in the array of characters. With themes of friendship, acceptance, and healing The Impossible Girl is a fun, exciting, and memorable read.