Publishers Weekly
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.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Six Impossible Things:
"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
* "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)
"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
"Dan Cereill is an odd sock and an absolute sweetheart. His journey through the joys and stings of first love, suburbia, humiliation and reinvention will make you smile and cheer for the underdog. It's impossible not to love this book!"—Simmone Howell, author of Everything Beautiful
School Library Journal
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
Kirkus Reviews
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)
