Six Impossible Things

by Fiona Wood

Overview

In this charming story of one guy's efforts to get it together when his life is falling apart, award-winning author Fiona Wood introduces an irresistible voice and a delightfully awkward character who is impossible to forget.

1. Kiss Estelle.2. Get a job.3. Cheer my mother up.4. Try not to be a complete nerd/loser.5. Talk to my father when he calls.6. Figure out how to be good.
Nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a whole heap of problems, including a reversal of family fortune, moving, new-school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and a massive crush on Estelle, the girl next door. His life is a mess, but for now he's narrowed it down to just six impossible things....

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316242172
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	08/11/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Fiona Wood lives in Melbourne, Australia. Her first novel, Six Impossible Things, was short-listed for the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year (Older Readers). Wildlife, her first novel published in the United States, was named the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year (Older Readers) and was short-listed for various other awards.

Editorial Reviews

When fourteen-year-old Dan Cereill’s life falls to pieces the best coping mechanism he can come up with is to write a list of six impossible things to work on. He thinks when he has accomplished them all he will have his life figured out again. His dad has just come out and left Dan and his mom—and lost the family fortune. So now Dan has got to get a job to help his mom cover expenses. He also wants to cheer her up, try to figure out how to not be a nerd in his new school, and get up the nerve to talk to his dad the next time he calls. He is also going to kiss Estelle, the beautiful girl who lives next door but who he has never met. Dan is a loveable misfit and while he may have been hit with everything at once, he is absolutely relatable. Readers will root for him to succeed in his impossible quest and may be inspired to write a list or two of their own. A definite crowd pleaser of a book. Reviewer: Amy McMillan; Ages 12 up.

Children's Literature - Amy McMillan

05/11/2015
Fourteen-year-old Dan finds out just how quickly life can change when his father moves out after announcing that he’s bankrupt and gay. Dan and his jobless mother move into a malodorous Victorian house they have inherited from an aunt, where things go from bad to worse. Attending public school is a nightmare for “private school refugee” Dan, and his mother can’t get her wedding cake business off the ground because she keeps talking brides out of getting married. In the depth of his misery, Dan creates a list of six “impossible” desires he wants to fulfill, including getting a job, not being a “complete nerd/loser,” and reconnecting with his father. At the top of his list is to “kiss Estelle,” his new next-door neighbor and secret crush. With sensitivity and humor, Wood (Wildlife) traces the roller-coaster life of a boy in the midst of significant upheaval. Dan’s honesty, smarts, and earnest efforts to do good may not earn him any popularity points at school, but they will win readers’ affection and admiration. Ages 12–up. Agent: Cheryl Pientka, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Six Impossible Things:* "Told in Dan's voice, the narrative reveals a young man whose sardonic view of himself and those around him provides an amused but angst-filled tone. There is situational humor, as well, in cinematic-like scenes, particularly in the classroom... Imagery is another of this novel's strengths. Dan expresses his outsider status as being like a lemon rolling down an apple chute... The story's charming and unique characters really carry the day. Readers will care about the teens who struggle to come of age."—VOYA (starred review)

"School dances, first dates, and sneaking out are just some of the high school hijinks that are humorously depicted with a fresh perspective...Snappy dialogue, charming characters, even pacing, and poignant sentence-level writing make this offering a must-have."—SLJ

"With sensitivity and humor, Wood (Wildlife) traces the roller-coaster life of a boy in the midst of significant upheaval. Dan's honesty, smarts, and earnest efforts to do good may not earn him any popularity points at school, but they will win readers' affection and admiration."—PW

"Australian author Wood (Wildlife, 2014) has created a pitch-perfect teen voice in Dan's first-person narrative. He's by turns sorrowful, impulsive, caring, and funny, with occasionally brilliant turns of phrase: "I feel like a lemon rolling down the apple chute." It's refreshing to see a romance from a teen boy's perspective, and Dan is a Romeo to root for."—Booklist

"This romance is effervescent and sweet, but it offers welcome substance along with the sparkle."—Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will fall hard for this total (and totally adorable) nerd...[Dan is a] truly decent and funny protagonist."—Horn Book

"An engaging, funny, touching and oh-so-real feeling tale. Teen characters in a romance have not felt so alive to me since I read Eleanor & Park."—Josh Sundquist, author of We Should Hang Out Sometime and Just Don't Fall

"I loved this book so much I wanted to be in it."—Kaz Cooke, author of Girl Stuff and Women's Stuff

From the Publisher

Dan’s life is looking bleak. Not only did his father lose the family money, but also he announced that he is gay. Dan and his mother are on their own in a mausoleum-like historic home. It is cold in there, and Dan stays huddled under the covers. The one ray of light in Dan’s dismal world is Estelle, the girl next door. Even though he is the awkward new boy at school, kissing her is number one on his list of six impossible things. Told in Dan’s voice, the narrative reveals a young man whose sardonic view of himself and those around him provides an amused but angst-filled tone. There is situational humor, as well, in cinematic-like scenes, particularly in the classroom. In one, the class bully marks up Dan’s face with permanent marker before the prom. Perhaps the most delicious irony is Dan’s mom’s attempt to start a wedding cake business. As she counsels with her customers, they decide to call off their weddings. Imagery is another of this novel’s strengths. Dan expresses his outsider status as being like a lemon rolling down an apple chute. When he discovers a kindred spirit at school, they are described as two odd socks that recognize each other in the wild. Descriptive details of the antique furnishings in the old house foreshadow a happier outcome. The story’s charming and unique characters really carry the day. Readers will care about the teens who struggle to come of age. Reviewer: Marla Unruh; Ages 11 to 18.

VOYA, August 2015 (Vol. 38, No. 3) - Marla Unruh

Dan has to get used to a new life, a new house, a new school, and new friends. The friend thing is kind of hard because Dan is shy and always says the wrong thing. The cause of Dan’s troubles is that his father left, revealing he is gay. It is a good book and teens will enjoy reading it. Reviewer: Savannah Withrow, Teen Reviewer; Ages 11 to 18.

VOYA, August 2015 (Vol. 38, No. 3) - Savannah Withrow

04/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—Nerd-boy Dan is nursing a huge crush on next-door neighbor Estelle but is also coping with the dissolution of his family. His dad recently came out as gay and ruined the family's finances, leaving Dan and his mom no other choice but to live in her late great-aunt's dilapidated house in the suburbs. Meanwhile, he's discovered how compatible he and Estelle are by snooping into her diary, much to his personal shame. Trying to fit in his new school as a former private school student, finally being on speaking terms with his dad, getting a job, and kissing Estelle are just some of the six impossible things on the protagonist's wish list. Wood convincingly portrays Dan as a slightly self-centered teen who believably transforms into a more thoughtful young adult. Whether it's trying to cheer up his mom, whose wedding cake business is going to bust because she keeps convincing brides-to-be in the faultiness of marriage, or pairing up best friend Fred with new friend Lou, Dan begins to put others before himself, becoming more "good" along the way. School dances, first dates, and sneaking out are just some of the high school hijinks that are humorously depicted with a fresh perspective. Secondary characters, such as older brother-type Oliver and Estelle's biting best friend, Janie, add complexity to the narrative. This companion novel taking place before the events of the author's Wild (Little, Brown, 2014) shines on its own merit. VERDICT Snappy dialogue, charming characters, even pacing, and poignant sentence-level writing make this offering a must-have.—Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

2015-06-06
A young teen seeks platonic, familial, and romantic connections. Dan's life has gone from socially poor but financially privileged to cliché-level terrible now that his father has lost the family fortune, come out, and left his mother. Having moved into a grand but drafty and smelly historic house left them by his mother's great-aunt Adelaide, Dan's dread of starting at a new school halfway through the year is both mitigated and sharpened by his crush on his gorgeous next-door neighbor, Estelle. When Dan discovers that Estelle maintains a secret aerie in their shared attic space, he's unable to resist the temptation to read the diaries she keeps there, but his guilt over this violation builds as he and Estelle slowly establish a flirty friendship. Aussie Wood makes Dan struggle realistically to overcome his problems: he and his mother clash over their money woes and his refusal to speak to his father; his job options are limited due to his youth; and he's so afraid of saying the wrong thing at school that he clams up and occasionally faints. Over time, he matures and takes risks, reaping both the rewards and consequences of his choices. The excitement culminates in the time-honored way—at a school dance—setting up a finale readers will gobble up. This romance is effervescent and sweet, but it offers welcome substance along with the sparkle. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews