2018 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel (nominee)
From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Last One at the Wedding—a sweet coming-of-age story about young love that’s an ‘endearing, full embrace of the late 1980s’ (USA TODAY) and a delightful blend of humor, heart, and the universal experience of growing up.
Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin is living the dream of every nerd in New Jersey. His days are filled with endless debates over pop culture icons, late-night video game programming on his beloved Commodore 64, and the simple joys of friendship. But when Playboy magazine releases photos of Wheel of Fortune’s iconic Vanna White, Billy's world is turned upside down.
Enter Mary Zelinsky, a brilliant and equally geeky girl who challenges Billy in ways he never expected. As their friendship blossoms, Billy finds himself navigating the complexities of first love, all while hatching a plan with his friends to get their hands on the coveted magazine.
Described by Newsweek as " thoroughly escapist joy," The Impossible Fortress is a testament to the power of nostalgia and the timelessness of falling in love. Fans of Stranger Things and those who cherish pop culture and 80s nostalgia will find themselves transported back to a time when life was simpler, yet full of joyful anticipation.
Genre: General Fiction
Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin is living the dream of every nerd in New Jersey. His days are filled with endless debates over pop culture icons, late-night video game programming on his beloved Commodore 64, and the simple joys of friendship. But when Playboy magazine releases photos of Wheel of Fortune’s iconic Vanna White, Billy's world is turned upside down.
Enter Mary Zelinsky, a brilliant and equally geeky girl who challenges Billy in ways he never expected. As their friendship blossoms, Billy finds himself navigating the complexities of first love, all while hatching a plan with his friends to get their hands on the coveted magazine.
Described by Newsweek as " thoroughly escapist joy," The Impossible Fortress is a testament to the power of nostalgia and the timelessness of falling in love. Fans of Stranger Things and those who cherish pop culture and 80s nostalgia will find themselves transported back to a time when life was simpler, yet full of joyful anticipation.
Genre: General Fiction
Praise for this book
"A love letter to the 1980s, adolescence, technology, nerd-dom, and Vanna White, The Impossible Fortress will make you laugh and remind you of how much is possible when you're fourteen." - David Ebershoff
"A sweet, funny and moving tribute to nerds and misfits everywhere." - Seth Grahame-Smith
"The Impossible Fortress is hilarious, compulsively readable and surprisingly poignant, a teenage caper novel set in a time where U2 could still be considered a one-hit wonder and pornography was as close and as unobtainable to a 14-year-old boy as a Playboy magazine kept behind the counter at an office supply store. I absolutely loved it." - Carolyn Parkhurst
"Part love story, part coming-of-age tale, and part heist picture, The Impossible Fortress is an endlessly clever novel about friendship, heartache and computers - all rendered with the bright colors and buoyant spirit of Q*bert for the Commodore 64." - Ben H Winters
"A sweet, funny and moving tribute to nerds and misfits everywhere." - Seth Grahame-Smith
"The Impossible Fortress is hilarious, compulsively readable and surprisingly poignant, a teenage caper novel set in a time where U2 could still be considered a one-hit wonder and pornography was as close and as unobtainable to a 14-year-old boy as a Playboy magazine kept behind the counter at an office supply store. I absolutely loved it." - Carolyn Parkhurst
"Part love story, part coming-of-age tale, and part heist picture, The Impossible Fortress is an endlessly clever novel about friendship, heartache and computers - all rendered with the bright colors and buoyant spirit of Q*bert for the Commodore 64." - Ben H Winters
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Used availability for Jason Rekulak's The Impossible Fortress