Review: Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood

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Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood


Pages: 244
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: August 1st, 2010
IBSN:9780330426060

Fourteen year old nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a reversal of family fortune, moving house, new school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and an impossible 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...

I'm disappointed that I read this books after my post about what makes Aussie YA Aussie YA, because Six Impossible Things demonstrated exactly what I meant about it being 'comfortable'. Everything about it felt familiar, and not in the "this story is hackneyed" kind of way. Six Impossible Things was like a story your friends recount to you.

The awkwardly funny tone of the story was reminiscent of teen movies that make you cringe in the good sense. The situations Dan found himself in were often embarrassing, but he responds to it all in such a down-to-earth and relatable way that we want to stifle our laughter and help him to his feet.

Dan's voice was so distinct and real, and his problems were all relatable: unrequited love, money issues, newly divorced parents, trying to not look like an idiot. I just wanted to give him a hug.

Six Impossible Things was a cute and heart-warming coming-of-age story that any teen, or anyone who was ever a teen, could relate to.

I give Six Impossible Things a 4 out of 5.

I recommend it for fans of: Beatle Meets Destiny, Good Oil, A Straight Line To My Heart.