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    The Impossible Fortress
    The Impossible Fortress
    The Impossible Fortress
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Impossible Fortress

    Written by Jason Rekulak

    Narrated by Griffin Newman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A love letter to the 1980s and to nerds everywhere—The Impossible Fortress will make you remember what it feels like to love someone—or something—for the first time.

    Billy Marvin’s first love was his computer.

    Then he met Mary Zelinsky.

    Do you remember your first love?

    It’s May 1987. Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin of Wetbridge, New Jersey, is a nerd, but a decidedly happy nerd. Afternoons are spent with his buddies, watching copious amounts of television, gorging on Pop-Tarts, debating who would win in a brawl (Rocky Balboa or Freddy Krueger? Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel? Magnum P.I. or T.J. Hooker?), and programming video games on his Commodore 64 late into the night. Then Playboy magazine publishes photos of their idol, Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White, Billy meets expert computer programmer Mary Zelinsky, and everything changes.

    “A sweet and surprising story about young love” (A.V. Club), and a “quirky, endearing, full embrace of the late eighties” (USA TODAY), The Impossible Fortress will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you remember in exquisite detail what it feels like to love for the very first time. Heralded as one of the most anticipated novels of 2017 by Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, and InStyle.com, The Impossible Fortress is a surefire “unexpected retro delight” (Booklist, starred review).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 7, 2017
    ISBN9781508228790
    The Impossible Fortress
    Author

    Jason Rekulak

    Jason Rekulak is the author of The Impossible Fortress, which was translated into 12 languages and was nominated for the Edgar Award. He lives in Philadelphia with his family.

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    Reviews for The Impossible Fortress

    4/5

    195 ratings30 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I am not nostalgic for the 1980s, I am not a 14 year old boy, I'm not obsessed with video games and I do not have a burning desire to see a picture of Vanna White's butt. Accordingly, I am not the target audience for this book. I quickly realized that I didn't want to spend any time in the head of this adolescent boy. Definitely not the right book for me. I received a free copy of the book from the publisher but I wound up listening to the audiobook borrowed from the library.
    • 3/5
      I finished this a week ago and have been sick in the meantime so my review isn't as clear as I'd have liked it to be. I enjoyed this book and read it in two settings. It has lots of '80s pop culture but especially focuses in on the burgeoning computer industries. A nerd and a "fat" girl become close when they discover each is into BASIC programming on the Commodore 64. If you, like me, used to spend your life inputing code from Compute! magazine into your C64 then this will resonate with you. However, the plot is a simplistic boy meets girl coming of age story and not exactly exciting. Though entirely readable.
    • 4/5
      Very well done! I think it was a little slow moving in the beginning because, at some point I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue; however, it seemed to pick up after a fashion at which point I really started to enjoy it.

      It’s a sweet YA novel about (mostly) young men in high school in the late 80’s and the very beginnings of competitive computer gaming. It also loosely centers around a romantic relationship between one of the young men and a young lady who he just happens to meet while he and his buddies are attempting to pull off an elaborate scam devised to score a coveted copy of Playboy magazine.

      The story is very conventional in that it takes place exclusively in the world of heterosexual relationships, which is quite nice for a change!!

      Overall, I would say this is a fun, pretty light hearted story, well written and well worth a listen.
    • 4/5
      I would really give this a 3.5, I loved all the characters. I experienced quite a range of emotions while listening to this book. With that said , the story seemed a bit rushed at points and unnecessarily dramatic, but still enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from NetGalley, but I listened to the audiobook version instead.

      The Impossible Fortress hits the exact right notes of eighties nostalgia without turning into a catalog of bygone pop culture. It definitely opened a flood of memories for me. I wasn’t a teenager in 1987, but I did spend my childhood teaching myself BASIC on my Apple IIGS and keying in machine language programs printed in the backs of my dad’s computer magazines.

      Billy, Alf and Clark just want to see Vanna White in the May 1987 issue of Playboy, and they’ll try just about any harebrained scheme to get it. When they go into a local typewriter repair store and try to convince the owner that they look like serious businessmen who are definitely old enough to buy it, Billy meets Mary, an overweight social outcast who not only shares his love of computer programming but also his interest in making games, not to mention the fact that she has talent to spare.

      Mary tells Billy about a contest judged by their personal game design hero, and it isn’t long before they’re heads-down, working feverishly to finish the titular game – an unfinished, unpolished concept created by Billy in his free time – all while Alf and Clark think he’s working a scam to get the Playboy.

      The characters are so sharply drawn that they leap off the page. Rekaluk makes them both relatable and unique with only a few key details as well as a strong sense of the time and place. I fell in love with these characters, rooting for them to figure things out and make something out of themselves.

      That’s why I was especially invested when the book took a turn for the dramatic and the stakes became much higher. Suddenly The Impossible Fortress wasn’t just a teenage sex comedy filled to the brim with programming nostalgia; it was also a story about how one wrong choice can ruin your life and how easy it is to watch your dreams slip through your hands. When things started going south for Billy, my stomach dropped, and I didn’t want to stop reading.

      In fact, I listened to most of this book in one long sitting while I cleaned and packed for my holiday travel. I rarely get the chance to listen for such a long, uninterrupted period, so it’s especially nice to find a book compelling enough to warrant the attention. I highly recommend The Impossible Fortress, and can’t wait to read Jason Rekaluk’s follow-up, whatever it might be.

      Originally posted at Full of Words.
    • 1/5
      I saw this blurbed somewhere as "Ready Player One meets John Green", and that was a pretty accurate assessment. It definitely read like someone trying to write a John Green-esque novel about teenage computer geeks in the 1980s, but it failed horribly at being an actual good book.

      For the first half or so, I was moderately into it. The characters weren't great, but they weren't horrible. The plot was adequate. It had a nice little nostalgic 80s movie vibe with the "teen kids come up with a hair-brained scheme to do something ridiculous" story line. I thought that the relationships between all the teens were all fairly realistic. And then I got somewhere in the middle of the book, and it just all went downhill, fast (which is funny, since a large part of the end of the book actually involves climbing a small mountain). We went from one unbelievable situation to another, and the explanations that came for a lot of characters' actions were just completely out of left field and really felt shoehorned in. I was still wavering on giving it 2 stars, because I had enjoyed most of the beginning, but then I came to the final scene, and holy crap that ending was atrocious. I literally closed the book and said out loud, "Are you kidding me? That's where you went with this?"

      Would not recommend.

    • 4/5
      The year is 1987. 14-year-old Billy and his two best friends are determined to get their hands on the Playboy issue featuring Vanna White, and in order to do so, they must figure out a way to breach the back counter area of the local typewriter/all-purpose neighborhood shop. When Billy meets the shop owner's daughter, Mary, and discovers they have a shared love of computers and computer programming, the boys hatch a plan to gain access to the coveted magazine via Mary, without her knowledge. Thus begins a story of teenage misadventures and first love, all wrapped up in an 80's context.If a book is set in the 80's, I'm all about it. This isn't what I'd consider an amazing novel, but an enjoyable one. I loved the 80's references: music, TV shows, pop culture, and even the underlying early computer programming theme (remember Commodore 64?), which took me right back to that decade. I loved the nostalgia. The book even had a mild twist near the end, which I wasn't expecting at all. There wasn't anything too deep in this story, but it was fun. Computer geeks especially, who grew up in the 80's, should love this.
    • 4/5
      The Impossible Fortress is impossible to believe - or at least a bit of the story's vehicle seems to stretch the boundaries of feasibility. And yet - it's a wonderful book. First, author Jason Rekulak seems to love the topic of early computer gaming. I even saw a name or two I recognized fondly from when I was a kid - Roberta Williams of Kings Quest and The Realm fame was definitely a familiar one. (The Realm STILL exists and holds the record for first and therefor longest running MMORPG).I may have actually spoken aloud early on with something like "Oh come on!" when it seemed obvious how the story was going to play out. It made me angry to see that Rekulak, who has talent with the written word would be so lazy with his actual story. Fortunately, he's a smarter person than I am and threw the twists in to make the story something other than the same tired tale. The Impossible Fortress is fun, it's a little upsetting (as you get invested in the characters as I did), but ultimately, it's impossible not to like what Rekulak put together.One additional note - just like movies sneaking in content during the credits, don't put the book down when you finish the story. Rekulak offers a list of the most popular songs from 1987. He also offers a list of '80s cover songs and there were a few gems on the second list that I didn't know about. But wait, there's more! There's a playable "The Impossible Fortress" game online! It's free, it's very simple to understand the mechanics of, but ties everything in so wonderfully. It's worth playing for a few minutes to wrap up the experience of this book.
    • 4/5
      Fun book for what it is. A group of three teenage boys are trying to figure out a way to get a copy of the Vanna White Playboy. With a few hiccups they hatch a plan to break into the local store that is selling it via an access panel on the roof. Their plan also includes seducing the owner's daughter. That's where one of the things begin to go awry. The boy who's task it is to accomplish this develops feeling for the girl of the course of making a computer program. Set in 1987 full of cultural references to that time. Reads about like a teen movie from the 80's which is both good and bad, big fall out near the end and then big aww moment at the very end.
    • 4/5
      I had no idea what this was about going in and I loved it. Computer geeks, video games, teenage boys and the lengths they will go for stupid ideas, and young love. This is one that I would like to read again to catch some of the little hints in the code at the beginning of the chapters. As soon as my TBR is smaller... hahahaha who am I kidding. 4????
    • 1/5
      Well that was juvenile nonsense. Shoved a lot of 1980s references into a blender, threw in some half-baked YA tropes and an excruciatingly dim narrator and buzzed the whole thing repeatedly into mush.

      Genuinely poor writing, dreadfully weak plotting, some actual misogyny disguised as that's-what-things-were-like-in-the-80s misogyny. This was a bloody awful Ready Player Wannabe. Witless, charmless and hopeless.
    • 4/5
      Look, I'll be completely honest with you straight off the bat. I went into this book not sure if I was going to make it the whole way through. Billy, Alf and Clark started out as this misfit group of boys that, despite the fact that I'm sure teenage boys actually do act exactly as they did, drove me to the brink of madness. I honestly wasn't certain I was going to be able to follow them through the entirety of the story.Then, something magical happened. Video games came into play! 80's nostalgia blossomed, and suddenly Billy was more than just a typical teenage boy to me. He was a video game obsessed, extremely talented, passionate young man. He was a character who wasn't afraid to put his heart, soul, and ample amounts of his time into doing something that he really loved. After that, I felt so much more connected to this story. I wanted Billy to succeed, and I so hoped he'd learn how amazing he really was.Things picked up from there. Mary was introduced, and I instantly fell in love with her character. I adored that she was intelligent, unafraid to show her passion for coding, and full of the kind of wit that I can only wish for. She screamed "future girl boss" to me, and I ate it up. Her banter with Billy was perfection, her no nonsense look at the world was intoxicating, and I was hooked. If this book had simply revolved around Mary, I would have been smitten from the beginning. As it stands though, Mary was the part of this story that made Billy whole. Their little romance, even the rough parts of it, gave me life.Jason Rekulak showed me that I really shouldn't give up on characters after the first few pages. Billy, Alf, and Clark turned into boys that I actually fell head over heels for. I didn't always agree with their thoughts, or their actions, but it didn't change the fact that they were realistically flawed human beings. They were just teenage boys, obsessed with Vanna White, intent on getting girls, and learning to navigate this crazy world we all live in. We'd all love to pretend that our teenage years weren't peppered with bad decisions, and mistakes. That's just life though, and Rekulak shows that in a way that is equal parts funny and honest.
    • 4/5
      I thought, as an adult, this story was riveting. I read the whole thing in a day. However, it was not what I expected. I thought it would be a general entertaining story for middle school kids, especially those into math, and computers. But I found the content a little too heavy(not-so-accidental but unwanted pregnancy, and independently, a highly planned theft), to pass on to my grandkids who were not yet teens. I realize the themes are ok for middle school but I was looking for light reading for them for the summer. I give it a 4 instead of higher due to the treatment of childbirth as a temporary concern by the mother, nearly gone from her mind in just a month after the birth. There's a great difference between rarely mentioned after birth and rarely thought of after birth. My impression was that the baby was rarely thought of, rather than rarely mentioned. The author did an excellent job on setting up a romance and capturing the nerd culture, and the middle school culture as well as a very accurate historical setting of the early computer days.Perhaps the story is meant to show how a strong romance can mitigate even major mistakes. But that is not light summer reading but in a more serious category. The book reviews available do not point this out.I'm not sure that page length is 320 pages since they are not numbered past 285. The story starts on page 1 and ends on page 285. After the page numbering stops, there are a number of things including a second title page. Then one of the pages after page 285 is titled "discussion". This is excellent for most of the book but still does not address why the child so quickly recedes from the mothers thoughts. That topic should be added to that list, or the story itself modified so thoughts of the baby do not seem to recede.
    • 2/5
      I originally had this at four stars, but then I was making my breakfast and realized that something really bothered me: Mary was only "fat" because she was pregnant. Why couldn't she have been both overweight and pregnant? Or was it necessary for her to be slender in order for it to be okay for Billy to like her? I could deal with all the other stuff—the bullying, the crime, the lack of consequences for said crime—because it felt true to the time and the characters, but the whole "she was just pregnant, not actually fat, so it's okay to find her hot" thing pissed me off. Not enough to completely ruin the book for me, but enough for me to be reluctant to recommend it to teens, for whom it might otherwise be a good choice. Yeah, the attitude toward "fat" girls was accurate to the time, but it would have made Billy a more interesting character if he didn't care and stood up to his friends when they made fun of Mary. It just felt like such a "guy" thing to do and completely unnecessary.
    • 5/5
      The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak A coming-of-age story with a 1980s gamers theme. It’s setting is a small town, Wetbridge, in New Jersey, where, Billy Marvin, a typical fourteen-year-old, focuses on his talent of programming video games on his Commodore 64 computer. But he’s a slacker when it comes to school work, and this understandably upsets his single-parent mom. Seemingly unrelated, Billy and his two friends, Alf and Clark, devise a plan to get hold of a Playboy magazine (the news stand age to purchase is 18) when they hear that Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune fame is featured on its cover and centerfold. The complicated scheme they come up with involves Zelinsky’s local store, where the owner‘s daughter, Mary, works after school. She is also a computer nerd and Billy solicits her help with a program for a game he’s started to design but has been unable to finish, named, The Impossible Fortress. Working together, the goal is to enter a contest to win a much better, and much faster (this is the 80s when computer technology is exploding) machine. Sounds like ordinary YA fare, right? But it’s NOT. What makes this 2018 Edgar Nominee so extraordinary is all the intriguing details, and how Billy and his friends go about implementing their plan as it escalates into a crime caper with numerous snags. Then there’s Billy’s dilemma of his changing feelings for Mary -- Billy's friends call her fat and have fat jokes about her -- with an unpredictable turn of events that makes this an exceptional story. It holds a wonderful interplay of humor and heart. I highly recommend this book. .
    • 3/5
      Superficial but entertaining, predictable but destined to become a modestly popular but beloved movie. Feel-good candy. Rekulak captures some of the magic of the 80s PC revolution but wisely tones down refs to the era's pop-culture.
    • 4/5
      A VERY GOOD NOVEL FOR ALL AGESThe 292 page "Impossible Fortress" (IF) is about four 14 year olds painfully maturing in Wetbridge (Oldbridge?) NJ, in the eighties at the dawn of personal computers. Playboy has just come out with its Vanna White edition and the town outlet won't sell it to anyone under eighteen. This and the incredible lengths three amigos go to in order to get their very own copies requires the reader to suspend common sense every so often.Then sit back and enjoy. IF is a much better book than I expected after going through the set-up. Yes, there are a lot of references to the 80's, including the music of the day. Fun ! And it's "coming of age" without the usual graphic, silly sex; rather, our hero almost goes apoplectic over holding hands in a movie theater. Will and Mary team together and enter a computer-based game design contest. You will learn (or recall) a good bit about the Commodore 64 and the pains one had to endure to program it. Meanwhile Will and his buds are plotting to break into Mary's dad's store at night - a black ops mission. Can you guess why? Yes, Mary's dad owns the only store selling the Vanna White!While the plot is so-so, I thought the characters were very well drawn. All were well developed and true to life. Some humor - I had a couple of laugh-out-loud moments - and there was some tension. There were also a few messes that only 14 year olds can get themselves into. At first I didn't care for the ending but after more thought I realized how well it fit the story, while avoiding the overcooked "everything's coming up roses...." conclusion. I found this to be a nice break from my usual crime fiction and history reading. Note the nice blurb from the Washington Post on the Amazon Kindle page. Four stars for me; I was a parent during that era. I would imagine that a lot of parents today in their late 30's, early 40's would get a lot more enjoyment - and perhaps freshman high kids.
    • 5/5
      Great young adult story about two misfits who can code way before being a nerd was cool. Remember when 14-year-old boys tried to catch glimpses of Playboy? Well, three friends take it beyond goofy kid antics when they try to steal a copy from a local store, where their antics create much more than they expected.
    • 3/5
      Had its moments. Interesting issues related to gaming.
    • 2/5
      I thought this would be about computer programming, but it's actually about boys trying to steal a Playboy magazine. The 1987 setting makes one wonder about this coming-of-age story's target audience - is it Gen X? The story didn't work for me.
    • 5/5
      This is a story of heist vs puberty. Guess who wins? Being a 14 year-old, is just what you remembered it to be, brutal!. Everything seems to be changing around you and inside you. Your mom worries about your future; suddenly every grade matters (even P.E.!) Billy is not at all interested in school. He's not a dumb kid...well he does do some dumb things. This happens as he and his cohorts navigate the newly complex social circles of high school, dodging bullies and figuring out how to interact with members of the opposite sex.The fact that Billy is doing all this in 1987 and at the dawn of the computer age makes this a such a nostalgic story. Billy can’t rely on email for his communication (CompuServe messages, after all, were not instant). Billy the closet computer geek. has to keep much of his interests in computer programming to himself, since his best friends are too obsessed with fast-forwarding Kramer vs. Kramer to spot a brief nude scene or developing an elaborate heist to procure the coveted issue of Playboy that features a spread of Vanna White. Oh Vanna, you were broke and were yet to become America's Sweetheart. She posed her lovely body for money which she greatly regretted later after she became famous as did the photos. What do 14 year old boys want? Vanna in a see through negligee, but they aren't old enough to make the purchase legally. If you loved or just lived through the '80s, nostalgia in The Impossible Fortress will jog your fond memories. But Rekulak’s debut novel isn’t just a book for ‘80s kiddos —it’s a book for anyone who ever felt like a weirdo as a teenager. The story takes a 90 degree turn when he finds an unexpected friend in Mary Zelinsky—a girl, sure, but someone who shares his passion for computers and building games. Mary also works for her father, in the store that sells the coveted Playboys.After you close the book on this unique, fun and sometimes shocking novel, don't fear... if you read the afterward and you should, (librarian speak), you know that in reality YOU can play Mary and Billy's game on the author's website. Who will beat Jason Rekulak at his own game?
    • 4/5
      This novel is pure enjoyment. It doesn't try to explore deep issues, it focuses on depicting the lives of a few 14-year-olds coming of age in the 1980s. The inclusion of cultural detail is sometimes clunky but not heavy-handed. The boys do pretty stupid things but, hey, they're 14! Treatment of female characters is refreshingly positive.
    • 4/5
      I'm not sure I can say it better than the cover blurb: "...at once a charming romance and a moving coming-of-age story—about what happens when a fourteen-year old boy pretends to seduce a girl to steal a copy of Playboy but then discovers she is his computer-loving soulmate." And then some.This will be fun for geeks to read, especially those waist deep in gaming and coding. But even if you're not one of those creatures, it's a good read. (Which says a lot, since I usually run like hell from coming of age stories.)
    • 4/5
      Dreams and schemes and falling in love in a 1980s setting that glows with nostalgia, The Impossible Fortress chronicles the exploits of 14 year old Billy as he and his friends obsess over getting their hands on a Playboy magazine featuring Vanna White. Seizing the opportunity to make a buck, best friend Alf starts "pre-selling" the pictures before the boys even have the issue at hand, leaving it to Billy to woo the security code from Mary, whose father owns the office supply/typewriter repair shop that stocks this precious magazine. Surprisingly, Mary shares Billy's passion for computers and coding, being the only person he knows (besides himself) who even has access to a personal computer. Mary encourages him to enter a game design competition and offers her knowledgable assistance. But as the weeks go by, Billy finds himself in a no-win situation: disappoint his best friends and leave Alf at the mercy of an angry boy mob or destroy the trust of the first girl Billy's ever loved. Told with humor and heart and wide-eyed innocence, this coming-of-age story at the dawn of personal computing will have readers chuckling and wincing, usually at the same time.
    • 4/5
      Billy Marvin is a teenage computer programmer in 1987, a time when few people knew how to program computers. His dream is to become a successful and famous videogame designer, although he has little idea how to achieve his goal. Failing out of high school and grounded from his computer, Billy and his misfit friends become obsessed to get a copy of the new Playboy, which features a scantily clad Vanna White on the cover. When their efforts to pay someone older to get a copy fall through, the boys develop complicated plans to steal/pay for a copy from a local business owner. When his friends put him in charge of getting the security code, however, Billy uses the ruse to develop a friendship with the owner's daughter, Mary, who is also an obsessive programmer and gamer. Together, the two teens decide to work together to develop and submit a game for a contest. As the deadline looms close, the plan to get the Playboy and Billy's plan to finish the game collide into a somewhat predictable disaster. I found this story entertaining but not very realistic. It was hard to believe a kid as smart as Billy would allow himself to get pulled into such a stupid plan. I did not think this book was as good as Ready Player One, but it was interesting and I enjoyed the nostalgia of the 1987 setting.
    • 4/5
      In 1987, to the sheer delight of all adolescent boys, Playboy released photos of Vanna White. This monumentalevent, is central to this story and Billy Marvin, who is fourteen, along with a couple of his goofy pals are obsessed with obtaining a copy. Billy is also a burgeoning computer geek, with dreams of becoming a programmer and video game developer. There is also a love story, between Billy and Mary, who also computer savvy.How they team up to create a video game, to win a major contest, is a blast.This is an ode to the 80s, with the music, movies and games, that dominated that era. This novel is geared more to a YA audience, despite a few dark, (and surprising) turns. It is not in the same league as Ready Player One, but if you are looking for something breezy and fun and want to find out if the boys find a copy of Playboy, with Vanna, in all her glory, give it a try.
    • 4/5
      I love finding a book that is completely different from my usual reading fare - quirky, funny, heartwarming and just fun to read. The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak is one of those finds.I think it was nostalgia that sold me on reading The Impossible Fortress. Set in the late 1980's in New Jersey, we meet a trio of fourteen year olds determined to get their hands on the latest Playboy - featuring Vanna White. That's the premise but there is so much more to the tale.It's a story of friendship, growing up, first love, dreams, discoveries and yes - disappointments. And who doesn't remember those years - good and bad?Rekulak's trio - Billy, Alf and Clark - are wonderful characters - they're a misfit bunch, but eminently likeable. As adults, we can easily see that their schemes are likely to fail, but their hopes and enthusiasm are contagious.Computer programming is in it's infancy in the 1980's. Billy and Mary (yes, there's a girl involved) are fascinated by this new technology. Remember the Commodore 64? There's coding at the beginning of every chapter - take the time to read it - Rekulak cleverly ties the coding to the story.Engaging, entertaining and oh so eighties.
    • 5/5
      1987. I was not fourteen then but I still remember what it was like to be a fourteen year old boy and I do remember 1987. Not quite fitting in with the "cool" group of kids, but still having my close group of friends. Trying to learn computer programming--not on a Commodore 64 like in the book, but on an Atari 1200XL. These are all things I remember well. I also remember that issue of Playboy magazine with Vanna White in it. First loves. Doing stupid things because...well just because that is what teenage boys seem to do. More things I remember. All of which the author did a great job bringing back to me. Sometimes I find a book that seems like it was written just for me. Like the author knew just what things to put into it that I would want to read about. In case you can't tell by now I loved this book. If you are a fan of Ready Player One or Stand By Me then this book is for you. If you remember what it was like to be a teen boy then this book is for you. If you just want to laugh or shake your head at the stupid things teen boys do then this book is for you. Billy, Alf, and Clark are the friends you wished you had. The ones that made the early teen years something we could get through. Something we could look back on years later and laugh about. Now we just have to wonder if we will ever get another book to see what our friends are up to next.
    • 5/5
      In 1987, Billy shares a passion with his two friends, Vanna White. She is on the cover of Playboy. Their first attempt to obtain copies results in losing all their money. Now he meets Mary, who may be the key to getting ahold of the magazine. He is stunned when he finds out she is also into programming computers. He has a chance to win a $4,000 PS/2 with twenty megabytes if he can program the winner for the Game of the Year Contest for High School Computer Programmers. His world comes crashing down when he makes a series of mistakes. Readers, especially teenager boys, will enjoy the antics and means Billy, Clark, and Alf will go through to make their point and what a surprise they get.
    • 4/5
      I would like to thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC of "The Impossible Fortress" by Jason Rekulak. I enjoyed this delightful coming of age book and would highly recommend this. The plot revolves around three 14 year old male friends who would do anything to get the latest issue of Playboy with pictures of Vanna White .One of the main characters has difficulty in school, but is extremely savvy with the earliest computer and writing games. He meets a girl that is into computers and computer language,more than he is. She works at the store where Playboy magazines are being sold, but not to 14 year olds. His friends want him to get the alarm code from this girl so they can get into the store and get the magazine.The boy and girl who are interested in gaming on computers are working together to win a contest. The boys have all kinds of plans to get Playboy, that turn into quite an adventure. There are many quirky characters, and some unexpected twists. The author discusses friendship,loyalty,secrets,first love and betrayal. This is the beginning of an era when a Commodore 64 is the coolest thing., and computer games are catching on. This author has me reminiscing about the first Commodore 64 we had, and how expensive and slow it was. I remember my son playing simple games on the computer, This is a charming coming of age novel and an easy read.