The Impossible Race

Cragbridge Hall #3

by Chad Morris

Every year the futuristic school, Cragbridge Hall, holds its most popular tournament--the Hunt: a series of challenges that range throughout the school and require the use of its amazing inventions like its holographic time machine! But this year is different. Rather than a monetary or academic reward, this year's winner will be the recipient of a carefully guarded school secret: a secret that could prove both powerful and dangerous.

Afraid that the secret may be one of their Grandfather's inventions, Abby and Derick gather several friends and enroll. But when Derick gets a mysterious message from the future, the team of friends must figure out how to succeed even when they know they are destined to fail. The stakes have never been higher. A page-turning, time-travel adventure that teaches powerful lessons about choice and consequence, believing you can do hard things, and valuing our history.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Time Travel, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult

432 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

Chad Morris coauthored The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry, Virtually Me, Mustaches for Maddie, Squint, and Willa and the Whale, with his wife, Shelly Brown. He is also the author of the Cragbridge Hall series (The Inventor's Secret, The Avatar Battle, and The Impossible Race). He has won the Utah Book Award, the Buckeye Award, and the Nebraska Book Award, and the Silver Foreword INDIES award for Juvenile fiction. Chad also wrote one of the short stories in True Heroes: A Treasury of Modern-day Fairy Tales Written by Best-selling Authors. His story was based on JP Gibson, an amazing boy who faced cancer with courage, heart, and a basketball dream.

Chad grew up wanting to become a professional basketball player or a rock star. (Inspired by Animal from The Muppets, he has been banging on drums since he was eight years old.) Neither of those plans quite panned out. After high school, he left the Rocky Mountains to live in Brazil for a few years then returned home to write and perform sketch comedy while going to college. He graduated from BYU with a couple of degrees and became a teacher and a curriculum writer.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it. Of course, I'm a little biased. I wrote it.

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew this was going to be a fantastic end to a great series, and I was right. I was so excited for this book to come out. Books like these are why I love middle grade. Abby, Derrick, and their friends are amazing and Carol still makes me smile. After receiving some news about Derrick, the twins and their friends are faced with another impossible task, to win the school's race to save all the secrets they hold dear. I love how they have to really think their way out of situations and rely on each other, all while figuring out if someone among them has betrayed them. I couldn't have been more pleased with the end result and I was turning pages as fast as I could to see what would happen next! Well done, my friend.

5 of out 5 stars. Another wonderful book from this talented author. If you haven't read this series yet, definitely start with book 1.

Received a hardcover from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Viking Jam · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://koeur.wordpress.com/2015/01/1...

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Publishing Date: March 2015

ISBN: 9781609079796

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 2.4/5

Publisher Description: Every year the futuristic school, Cragbridge Hall, holds its most popular tournament–the Race: a series of challenges that range throughout the school and require the use of its amazing inventions like its holographic time machine! But this year is different. Rather than a monetary or academic reward, this year’s winner will be the recipient of a carefully guarded school secret: a secret that could prove both powerful and dangerous.


Review: This was really, really, really built for the YA although I have a hard time envisioning my 13 year old niece getting into it. The characters were fairly one dimensional which is odd as the novel has really good movement. The characters just don’t seem to grow along with the story lines development. The dialogue was average trending to the mundane whenever “Super Funny Hip Flirty Gal” Carol, opened up her big inappropriate yapper in an attempt to provide levity to tense situations. I was cringing every time she inserted her viewpoint which was supposed to be funny but came off as contrived. Just let the situation develop and let the reader make the judgment call.

I still liked the writing and the creativeness of the situations but the whole thing just tended to drag on.

[David Hickenbotham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Time travel books can't help but end up with plot holes. Most of us love time travel books in spite of all the issues messing with time can cause for an author and a plot. Up through the end of the second book, the protagonists have been kept in check by the butterfly effect theory. Any changes of the past could adversely affect the present.

Chad Morris unfortunately got rid of this moral check at the very end of book 2 by introducing the ability to modify the present. Technically the past could be the past as soon as it isn't the present (1 millisecond ago, for example), so I suppose modifying the present isn't much different than modifying the very recent past, especially when morality is the point in question.

Anyway, if you feel like that's a long tangent before getting to the point, suffice it to say that now that there are no moral repercussions with modifying the past to affect the present, the entire Impossible Race suffers from dumb plotting and even dumber protagonists. These supposedly hyper-intelligent teenagers can't figure out that the best way to beat the bad guy is to neutralize him permanently. Sure, they're moral. I get that. And I realize that this is a middle-grade book, but it's still the elephant in the room. If they'd killed the antagonist in the previous book or any of a million times they had a chance in this book, there wouldn't have been a book. Even if they just kept him sedated for the rest of his natural life, they would solve the problem.

They have the means to do it. They can essentially teleport wherever they want. The bad guy isn't hiding from them. They have sedatives.

They just don't do it.

They stress a lot about how they can stop this madman permanently without killing him or without bringing in the police to take care of him. They intend on playing defense the whole time for the rest of their natural lives, stopping every plan he comes up with without actually going on the offensive.

Talk about an Impossible Race!

Even up through the climax, this book still suffers from the same frustrating problem. The secret bad guy is totally guessable by the reader, and even if he hadn't been, it would have been super easy for the kids to go back in time right in the beginning of the book and find out who the secret bad guy was before they shoot themselves in the foot over and over and over, getting rid of every single one of their allies.

In a nutshell, this book is far too frustrating to overcome the coolness of the Impossible Race (the event in this book for which the title of the book comes). I was frustrated in the beginning, and I was frustrated through the entire book. Neither the genius protagonists nor the genius antagonist even try to take advantage of the time travel powers they have, even though they're using their powers all the time. (I won't give it away, but they gain yet more totally useless time travel powers in this one rather than effectively using the ones they already have.)

Add to that that the annoying comic relief ceases to be even remotely funny, and you've got a book that has very little to recommend it.

I liked the last book so much I gave it five stars. I'm starting to rethink that rating because I didn't realize it at the time that the ending of that book so totally ruined any chance for this book or series to succeed.

I hate to give this one a poor review. I really like Chad Morris as a person and an author. But I really feel like the author painted himself into a corner in the Avatar Battle, one so bad that he couldn't figure out a way of getting out of it to write a book worth reading.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book and series that I could go on and on (and on) about, but what it boils down to is this: It's fantastic!! What a fabulous way to end this series! I don't want to say too much, either, because it is a series that needs to be experienced to truly appreciate it.

Abby and Derick are shocked to learn that their grandfather's secret is the award for the winner of the annual race. They form a team so they can hopefully win and keep the secret from getting into the wrong hands or becoming common knowledge. The stakes are high and the challenges are difficult but they are determined to do their best.

Abby deals with her insecurities as the leader of their team thinks that she and Carol are liabilities. She feels the need to continually prove herself worthy of being at Cragbridge Hall. Her nemesis, Jacqueline, is also still around and continues to make her feel like she doesn't belong, which stresses Abby out even more. There's also added pressure as they learn something about Derick which raises the stakes even higher for them to succeed.

Carol continues to bring comic relief to otherwise tense situations. She still has a major crush on Derick and isn't shy about letting him know. Derick faces the reality of his situation and we learn more about him. His challenges are different than Abby's but he still has things to deal with.

This is a fun, fast-paced read with adventure, time travel, history, futuristic technology, humor, and plenty of twists and turns. The team challenges were exciting! From our past experiences with this series, we knew we would want to keep reading more so we carved out extra time for this book. Mr. Morris has a great sense of humor and a way to make history interesting and relevant. My children and I read a lot of books and this is hands down our all-time favorite series which we recommend to everyone!!

I received a copy of this book to review. My opinion is 100% my own.

Mel's Shelves

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending to a great series. I started listening to it, and surprised myself by ignoring all the things I could have been doing in the middle of a Saturday afternoon and just played a video game on my iPad while I listened to it. When it came time to go to bed, I did the same thing. I finished this book in two days, and I never do that.

I enjoyed how the series dealt with the past (book one), the present (book two), and the future (book three). Abby learned a powerful lesson that is applicable to everyone of us: the future is yours to make regardless of what people or "visions" tell you it will be. There was one part (minor spoiler) that didn't quite fit for me--why not use the mind-reading chair all the time to interrogate suspects? That was a hole for me that I just had to overlook because everything else was really well done. I enjoyed this book, and would love to see a series new spin-off from this one.

[Friday · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author, has problem with the fact that the basis of his plot is a time machine. The plans are TOO complicated and round-about, and overlook the fact that there is a time machine! These, "brilliant" kids are reasonably smart but not clever or really all that gifted, as they overlook the basic solutions to problems, without even violating their own ethics (about changing the past), using the TIME MACHINE.

Half of the plot and problems don't need to happen, if they really thought through their problems, as they are encouraged and supposedly do, and applied the tools they have at hand and the TIME MACHINE.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very impressed with the first book in this series and my children continue to love these books, but I found myself skimming much of this one and getting really sick of the same dialogue over and over. This is still a good read for younger readers, but my attention is faltering (and Carol is officially no longer even mildly humorous).

[hennefaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

Very uplifting page turner with intense plot twists. Excellent choice for a sci-fi, realistic mix. Similar to Gone, by Haddix, this book also involves time travel. No language or intense violence. Great book!

[Karsyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad I finally got to read this! It was so great. This story is fantastic with amazing characters. I loved it so much! I hope there is more.

[Ethan Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 12

In the third book of Cragbridge hall, Abby and Derrick have to win the Race, or their Grandpa's secret could be let out to the world. At the beginning Abby, Derrick, Carrol, and Rafa save a women that failed Muns and is now being tortured by Muns and his people. When they return from saving her they use the chair to see what she knows. After the interrogation Derrick gets back to his dorm, and finds a metal object that looks like Saturn in his room. One he touches it and girl appears and tells him that he doesn't' have much longer to live. She also shows and tells him that Charles Muns does win, and that he has caused the Ash. Desperately Abby, and Derrick form a team to enter the Race and to try to stop him. While announcing the contestants of that years race they are reveled that the prize is a key that lets you see the past. But while Abby, Derrick, and Rafa are confused they find out that the first challenge is right then. They have to find a certain amount of cubes with riddles that lead to the next cube, and they hurry and finish and take second place. While they are celebrating the power goes out for a minute or two then they find out that something is stolen but they do not know what is stolen. They are told suspects of who stole whatever it is that was stolen by a man with a blond beard that is in the security department. Thinking that they have found the suspects, they don't think much of it and begin the second challenge where they have to go into a place that is designed off of the Labyrinth. They take first in their heat in that challenge. while they have been wining Abby, find a secret room filled with metal objects in a room that their grandpa built testing them if they should know the third secret. Finally Abby finished the tests and finds out that they can view the future. Then later in the week they have the 4th and last challenge. They have to go through multiple challenges, and finish them all and they win the race! In all the excitement everyone is told that there are bombs on the campus. Abby and Carrol rush to the bridge and find where the two bombs are. They take care of each bomb, Derrick barely surviving. But then there is Mun's huge army outside. They find out the fourth secret, use it then, go back 15 minutes and stop muns. Then they capture him and put him in a virtual world.

One cause in the book is when Derrick gets the metal Saturn and they find out that Muns will will and that derrick will die soon. This is probably the biggest cause and effects in the book, because that leads to Abby and Derrick forming a team for the Race. Even though one of their players in a bad guy they still win and end up wining and beating Muns. So without the warning from the girl in the Saturn they would not have won, and Muns would be ruling and making the Ash happen. The next cause is how Derrick learns how to use the Falcon and learns how to stoop. This might not seem like a big cause in the book at first but it actually is. Because he learns how to stoop with the parragin falcon Derrick stops the second bomb, and it all eventually leads up to them winning!!

I really liked this book. I like how Derrick gets the metal Saturn from the mysterious girl. I like how they have to sign up for the Race, and then they find out that the prize is a key, which puts a lot of pressure on their shoulders, because now they HAVE to win, and protect their grandpas secret. I like how Abby and Carrol find out the third secret that lets them see the future. I like they after they stop the bombs they have thought that they have won, and that muns has been stopped but he has his army. I really like how there is a fourth secret, but i'm not going to tell you what that is, so you will just have to read the book to find out. There was very minimal things that i disliked about this book. The only thing that comes to my mind is how the Trinhouses, the Coaches, their parents, and their Grandpa are all still asleep the whole book, from the darts in the second book.,

[LoganDB6 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amazing race
By Logan DeMille


I liked this book because of all the charter growth and the action that was in the book and all the cool elements like, robot monkeys and time travel. If you think this book sounds good though you should try watching the movie I ROBOT based on robots taking over. One of my favorite parts is when they find out that the time machine can go to a in between of the past,future and present where you can spend all the time you want and not wast a minute in the real world.

[Kim Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun end to the series. I loved watching especially Abby grow and into herself. I had some suspicions on who the bad guys were -- one of which was correct and one of which was sort of correct. There were some twists I didn't expect and I loved the way the whole thing resolved. Although, anytime time travel is involved, there are some quirky things that just don't quite work, but that's okay. It was a really enjoyable series.

I'm kind of sad that there are only the three books, although there was an opening for some in the future. I really hope they happen!

[Andrea Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impossible ending to an impossible story that I loved every bit of! While the science of the story is a bit unbelievable, the creativity is fan-freakin-tastic! This is a great middle grade book to boost morale and drive home the idea of creativity everywhere you look in life. Wish I had a Chair or Bridge to play with :)

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this series but I liked this last book the least. For some reason it was hard for me to get into it and envision many of the things that were happening. That said, it was worth reading. Cragbridge Hall is a creative, imaginative, and substantive trilogy that is worthy of staying in my personal library. :)

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Such a fun, exciting, thrilling, inventive, creative series! I am sorry to see it end. I sure home the author plans sequels!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't bad. I did enjoy the idea of time travel.

[Edward Rempala · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good ending to the series. Hopefully one day there will be more(since theses 3 only covered the first year there).

[Jessie Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series. Hands down, the most creative books I have ever read!

[Amandalynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were really fun to listen to. It would be amazing to attend a school like Cragbridge Hall. History would become a student favorite for sure. As would working with the avatars.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful conclusion to an excellent series!

[Shannon Symonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phew! What a ride! I started this well-done audiobook ready by Kirby Heyborne with my grandson. We burned through all 3 books on our drives to town. They are action packed kid candy.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad completion of a trilogy. Have def had enough of this genre for now and pleased to be trying something new. Series got steadily less interesting for me.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect ending to the series!

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun book and series! Geared toward young readers, but I loved it!

[Bryton Farish · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's grat

[✨Genessa✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Tonya Tingey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whole series is excellent and a solid "must read"!!

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This last book was a satisfying conclusion to this series.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense, twisting plots. Changing the thoughts of who might be helping the bad guy behind it all