The Impossible Fortress

by Jason Rekulak
285 pgs

Billy Marvin is a 14-year-old living in New Jersey with his mother in 1987. His mother works the late shift at the local grocery store, so Billy and his two friends Clark and Alf are able to hang out together late each night watching movies, playing games, and eating junk food.

When the latest issue of Playboy arrives at Zelinsky's Typewriters and Office Supplies, featuring Vanna White from "Wheel of Fortune," the three friends immediately begin planning "Operation Vanna." Their plan is to get a hold of a copy of the magazine, make photocopies of the pages featuring the professional letter-turner, and then sell them to kids at their school for a couple dollars each.

Their initial plans all fail, so they have to enlist the help of Tyler Bell, an older kid at their school, who helps them devise an elaborate scheme to break into the store at night to steal a copy. But in order for them to do so, Billy will need to become friends with Zelinsky's daughter and try to learn what the security code is to the store's alarm system.

The book is described as "A love letter to the 1980s," which probably explains why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Much like Stranger Things and Ready Player One, it's packed full of references to the '80s. From Vanna White and Phil Collins, to the Commodore 64 and Kramer vs. Kramer. But the nostalgia for that decade wasn't the only highlight of the book for me. I also really enjoyed the story. I found myself "stretching" out my lunch breaks each day, not wanting to put the book down.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆