Lucy Scarborough is only 17, but she carries the burden of a curse that has already struck down several women in her family. Each of her afflicted ancestors failed at completing three seemingly impossible tasks, and each succumbed to madness at the birth of her first child. Facing this tragic fate, Lucy braces herself for a losing battle. Mercifully, she has allies in her struggle: intensely sympathetic foster parents and her loyal childhood friend Zach.
Publishers Weekly
Werlin (TheRules of Survival) melds fantasy and suspense in a contemporary setting for a romance with plenty of teen appeal. Lucy Scarborough, raped on prom night, is pregnant. Committed to keeping the baby, she nonetheless sees disturbing parallels to her mentally ill mother, Miranda, who had Lucy as a teen, then left her in the care of the Markowitzes-Soledad, a nurse-midwife, and her husband, Leo. Boy-next-door-type Zach, home from college and living with the Markowitzes, happens upon Miranda's teenage diary, which outlines a curse placed on Lucy's family generations earlier by the evil Elfin Knight: the women all give birth as teens before descending into madness. Lucy can break the curse only by performing three impossible tasks set forth in a variant of the ballad "Scarborough Fair." None of her forebears have come even close, but then none of them had help from the selfless Markowitzes, the love-struck and self-sacrificing Zach or the Internet, where items like goat horns can be easily located: Lucy is the luckiest accursed girl ever. Werlin disguises the retro elements by creating feminist male leads, and even though the outcome is never in doubt, she builds nail-biting tension. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)
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Booklist
Werlin earns high marks for the tale's graceful interplay between wild magic and contemporary reality. Starred review
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up
Werlin combines magic, romance, and a family curse in this 21st-century fairy tale based on the ballad "Scarborough Fair." On the night of her prom, Lucy, 17, is raped by her date and becomes pregnant. She decides to keep the child, and she is supported by her foster parents and Zach, her childhood friend whose love for Lucy changes from platonic to romantic as the story progresses. The teen discovers the curse on the women in her family when she reads her birth mother's diary. Lucy is destined for madness at 18 unless she can perform the three impossible tasks described in the song and break the curse of the Elfin Knight. She is determined to rid herself and her unborn child of the curse, and her family and Zach help her as she works to solve the riddles. This unique story flows smoothly and evenly, and the well-drawn characters and subtle hints of magic early on allow readers to enter willingly into the world of fantasy. As in The Rules of Survival (Dial, 2006), Werlin addresses tough topics. Rape, teen pregnancy, and family madness set the story in motion, but the strength of Lucy's character and the love of her family and friends allow her to deal with such difficult matters and take on the impossible. Teens, especially young women, will enjoy this romantic fairy tale with modern trappings.-Jennifer D. Montgomery, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
Kirkus Reviews
In this modern-day fairy tale, 17-year-old Lucy and her loved ones apply 21st-century rationality to their quest to escape an ancient curse. Lucy lives with the beloved foster parents who have cared for her since her teenage mother went crazy after Lucy's birth. But what Lucy and her parents don't know is that it's not just Lucy's mother who went mad, but her grandmother, her great-grandmother and further back, through countless generations: She is descended from a long line of women who have babies at age 18 and then go mad. It all seems to be connected to an ancient fairy curse that's detailed in a strange version of the song "Scarborough Fair." Together with her parents and childhood friend Zach, Lucy vows to break the curse. Modern logic and methodology mesh splendidly with fairy lore; if emergency contraception won't break the curse, then maybe duct tape will. The conclusion is startlingly wholesome, comfortable and complete for the usually dark Werlin, and the melding of magic and practicality produces a lovely whole. (Fantasy. 13-16)
From the Publisher
"A haunting, thrilling romantic puzzle. Just read it."—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked
* “Werlin earns high marks for the tale's graceful interplay between wild magic and contemporary reality.”
—Booklist, starred review
* “Modern logic and methodology mesh splendidly with fairy lore...The conclusion is startlingly wholesome, comfortable and complete ...the melding of magic and practicality produces a lovely whole.”
—Kirkus, starred review
* “Teens, especially young women, will enjoy this romantic fairy tale with modern trappings.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
* “Modern logic and methodology mesh splendidly with fairy lore...The conclusion is startlingly wholesome, comfortable and complete ...the melding of magic and practicality produces a lovely whole.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Accolades for Impossible:
A New York Times bestseller
ALA Best Book for YA
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
Booklist Editor's Choice
VOYA Editors’ Choice
IndieBound List (Top Ten)
Many state and city awards (including. TX, GA, DC, KY, PA, and MA);
JANUARY 2009 - AudioFile
Emily Durante portrays secure, stable 17-year-old Lucy Scarborough, who is beloved by her foster parents. Soon tension creeps into Durante's voice as Lucy's mad, homeless mother lurks around her school and home. Durante also registers Lucy's anxiety at meeting the strange man with the lilting accent who has charmed everyone at her foster mother's place of employment. Skillfully, Durante transports listeners from a realistic high school story to a suspenseful fantasy. Lucy, and those who love her, must work to perform three impossible tasks to free her from the curse of the Irish stranger, who turns out to none other than the Elfin King. Can they save Lucy from the madness he's brought to generations of women he's impregnated before her? S.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
