The Train to Impossible Places: A Cursed Delivery

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. (Oct.)