The Book of Wondrous Possibilities by Deborah Abela

Title: The Book of Wondrous Possibilities

Author: Deborah Abela

Genre: Fantasy/Magical Realism

Publisher: Puffin

Published: 2^nd August 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Price: $!6.99

Synopsis: From bestselling author Deborah Abela, comes a middle grade adventure for 8-12-year-old heroes (even if they don’t know it yet).

Arlo Goodman lives with his Uncle Avery in a run-down flat above their bookshop. He has no friends, except for his pet mouse, Herbert.

But when a girl called Lisette bursts into the shop and begs him to hide her from a murderer, Arlo’s life changes forever.

He’s swept up into an adventure involving kidnappers, car chases and a story in The Book of Wondrous Possibilities, where Arlo and his skymouse battle dragons. But can Arlo find the courage to battle an even greater enemy, who threatens to destroy everything he loves?

~*~

Arlo Goodman lives with his Uncle Avery above a bookshop – he has since his mother died. He is surrounded by books and his friend, a mouse called Herbert. One day, a young girl called Lisette arrives, and thrusts a parcel into Arlo’s hands. It is a book called a grimoire, and it is from his mother. Lisette is on the run from a murderer, but there is more to the book she gives Arlo than meets the eye. Each story and adventure will come to life in a way, and Arlo finds that he has to read – until the book falls into the wrong hands, leading Arlo and Lisette on an adventure to rescue someone, battle dragons, and uncover the truth behind the grimoire and their families.

Deborah Abela’s latest book is a love story to books, to words, to readers, and to authors. It is filled with the joy that we all experience when we open a book and fall into the story, utterly enthralled by the dancing words on the page before us. With Arlo, Lisette, and the grimoire bringing the magic and words to life, the spell is cast. I was pulled into the story wholly and didn’t want to leave. The pace hurtles along delightfully and takes us on a rollicking adventure that blends action and pauses perfectly – I knew exactly when to rest and exactly when to keep going, and I think the shorter chapters, and having more of them helped keep this pace going perfectly.

This is the kind of book I would have loved when I was a kid, because it reflected how much I adore books, and how magical they make my life. It is the kind of book that I think all readers need – it’s not just for kids, because there is something in Arlo and Lisette that we can all relate to, something in Viola that we can all see in ourselves. Just like them, we all go through loss and loneliness and wanting friends, and I think this universal experience gives the book its heart and something that we can all – regardless of our age when we encounter it – relate to. Because we all get lonely, we all have family, we all experience loss, and we all want and have friends. The coming together of these themes and the magic of stories, words, and books makes this a truly delightful story to read. I think Deb has captured what books mean to so many of us eloquently and brings this love to the forefront, making it the most important thing in this story – well, one of the most important things and ensures that readers can engage with something they love within a format that they love.

Books have always been cool and awesome, but I have noticed in the last five or so years a lot more books celebrating books, readers, and writers. Stories that are books within books, stories that take you on adventures into books or libraries, and stories that show reading and writing as something fun, something cool. Something accessible – it is something uniting as well because they are the stories that we all come to so we can share our love in different ways. And I have already recommended this to a few people, and hope that many more decide to pick it up. Book lovers will hopefully fall in love with this story, with Arlo and Lisette – they’re the kind of friends that will see each other through thick and thin, and that will understand each other and their love of books and words. Words are a unique magic – they’re more than just communication, because when bound together in a book like this they can weave a spell on those reading it. I loved how the stories Arlo read came to life because that is just how it feels when reading a really good book like this one.

The Book of Wondrous Possibilities looks to be one of my favourites of the year – and there have been many. It can be very hard to narrow it down sometimes, but this one stands out amongst so many, and I hope that lots of people enjoy reading this book when they get it.