Impossible Fortress (Rekulak)

The Impossible Fortress 
Jason Rekulak, 2017
Simon & Schuster
304 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501144417


Summary
Until 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 Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White, Billy meets expert programmer Mary Zelinsky, and everything changes.

A love letter to the 1980s, to the dawn of the computer age, and to adolescence—a time when anything feels possible—The Impossible Fortress will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you remember in exquisite detail what it feels like to love something—or someone—for the very first time. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
Jason Rekulak is the publisher of Quirk Books, where he has acquired a dozen New York Times bestsellers. Some of his most notable acquisitions at Quirk include Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the YA fantasy novel series Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which has spent five years on the New York Times bestseller list. Jason lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. (From the publisher.)

Book Reviews
[A] charmingly vintage take on geek love, circa 1987 in New Jersey.... Rekulak’s novel will have readers of a certain age waxing nostalgic about Space Invaders and humming Hall and Oates, but it’s still a fun ride that will appeal to all.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Rekulak layers in nostalgic eighties references, like a mixtape created by Mary’s recently deceased mother, an oblique nod to Beetlejuice, and the wacky group of misfit friends with a 'really good' plan. Despite all that, in the end the plot manages to magically subvert the time period while also paying homage to it. An unexpected retro delight.
Booklist


In a small town in North Jersey in the late 1980s, a 14-year-old boy and his Commodore 64 find love and trouble.... Joyfully evoked with period details and pop-culture references, 1980s nostalgia is the only excuse for marketing this book to adults; otherwise, Rekulak's debut is a middle-grade novel all the way. A good one!
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
1. Games play a significant role in The Impossible Fortress, and throughout the novel, the characters play real and metaphorical games with one another. Give some examples. How do Mary and Billy use games to communicate? Why might they find it easier to talk through games than in real life?

2. The protagonist of the novel is known as "Billy" to his mother and friends, but identifies himself as "Will" to Mary and her father, and to players of The Impossible Fortress. Why do you think he uses variations of his name?

3. Billy is intelligent enough to program his own computer games, but his grades are abysmal. Why do you think he struggles in school? Do you know any people who struggled in high school? What are they doing now?

4. Describe Billy’s interactions with Principal Hibble. Do you think he has Billy’s best interests at heart? What did you think of Hibble’s reaction after Billy says his goal is to make video games and start his own company? In chapter 9, Billy says "[Hibble] was right. I knew no college would ever want me—but that was okay, because I didn’t want them." Why do you think Billy feels this way?

5. After Billy is suspended from school in chapter 9, his mother returns his computer to him telling him, "You promise you’re not playing Pac-Man?... Then get to work." Were you surprised by her change of heart? What motivates her decision?

6. In chapter 3, Billy says "Even though [Alf] and Clark were my best friends, I hadn’t told them about my secret plan to grow up and make video games for a living." Why is Billy reticent to share his dream with his friends? Describe their friendship. Are they supportive of each other? In what ways?

7. Discuss the structure of The Impossible Fortress. What is the effect of beginning each chapter with a passage of computer code? Did these passages deepen your understanding of the story? In what ways?

8. Explain the significance of the title. What "impossible fortresses" do the characters encounter within the novel? Did you notice any similarities between The Impossible Fortress video game and the plan to break into Zelinsky’s store? What about the plan to enter Mary’s school?

9. In chapter 20, Mary tells Billy, "If you want to know the truth, I don’t have a lot of friends right now." Why does Billy find this so hard to believe? What did you think of Mary? Did you learn anything that might explain Mary’s current social status?

10. In chapter 24, after Billy is brought to the police station, he is eager to tell the police "[My] only crime was buying a dirty magazine.... Everything else could be blamed on Tyler and Rene. They were the real bad guys." Did you agree with Billy? Is he culpable for what takes place in Zelinsky’s store? Explain your answer. What would you have done if you were in Billy’s position?

11. There are three different explanations for why Tyler is fired from Zelinsky’s store: Mary’s original explanation, Tyler’s explanation, and Mary’s revised explanation. Which story did you find most believable? How would you explain the discrepancies among the different versions? What do their lies (or omissions) say about the respective characters?

12. At the police station in chapter 25, Zelinsky tells Billy that Mary was "fooling [him] right back. [He doesn’t] know her at all. And [he’s] too dumb to even realize it." What secrets is Mary hiding from Billy? Did you find any of them shocking? Does learning Mary’s secret change your understanding of Tyler’s actions? If so, how?

13. In chapter 26, Billy says, "After passing most of my freshman year in relative anonymity, I’d finally made a name for myself." How has Billy succeeded in "making a name for himself"? Discuss his classmates’ reactions. Do you think their opinions are justified? Why or why not?

14. Early in the novel, we learn that Billy has never met his father. In chapter 12, he tells Mary, "I wish I knew why he left. That’s one thing I’ve never understood." Do any of the events in this book offer Billy a new perspective on his parents’ relationship?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)

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