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 failin...
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reviews
Sep 24, 2011
Janina
rated it: 
Six Impossible Things …
1. Not find Dan utterly charming and adorable and not cheer him on towards his well deserved happy ending.
2. Not laugh out loud at his musings.
3. Not like Howard, the psychic dog.
4. Not wish for Dan's mom to find happiness again.
5. Put the book down.
6. Not want to hug the book after having finished.
#8 Aussie YA Challenge 2011
1. Not find Dan utterly charming and adorable and not cheer him on towards his well deserved happy ending.
2. Not laugh out loud at his musings.
3. Not like Howard, the psychic dog.
4. Not wish for Dan's mom to find happiness again.
5. Put the book down.
6. Not want to hug the book after having finished.
#8 Aussie YA Challenge 2011
12 comments
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(21 people liked it)
Sep 25, 2011
Lisa O.
rated it:
It is not exactly pleasant to wake up one day and find out that:
- your father has declared himself gay and ditched you and your mother;
- your dad's business has gone bankrupt and you and your mother are on your own without a penny to your names;
Add to that the fact that your house has been taken over by creditors along with furniture, clothes, personal belongings, EVERYTHING. You have to leave your good, private school, your friends, and swallow the bitter humiliation. More...
- your father has declared himself gay and ditched you and your mother;
- your dad's business has gone bankrupt and you and your mother are on your own without a penny to your names;
Add to that the fact that your house has been taken over by creditors along with furniture, clothes, personal belongings, EVERYTHING. You have to leave your good, private school, your friends, and swallow the bitter humiliation. More...
7 comments
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(23 people liked it)
Aug 03, 2011
Arlene
rated it: 
Something large and happy has unfolded in my chest, erupting in a smile that won’t quit. I can’t remember ever feeling so light-hearted. Or is my heart full? Or bursting? Not aching, that’s for sure.
Wow! Have I ever wanted to tackle hug a protag! I have to say hands down Dan from Six Impossible Things has hijacked my heart! It’s not too often we get the luxury of reading a YA Contemporary in a guy’s POV, and this book is a perfect example of how awesome they can be. This story pul More...
Wow! Have I ever wanted to tackle hug a protag! I have to say hands down Dan from Six Impossible Things has hijacked my heart! It’s not too often we get the luxury of reading a YA Contemporary in a guy’s POV, and this book is a perfect example of how awesome they can be. This story pul More...
22 comments
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(25 people liked it)
Nov 02, 2011
Jasprit
rated it:
I’ve been on a Aussie book binge as of late, the last couple of books I read were full of awesomeness, but they have also been quite intense The Piper’s Son and Raw Blue, so I needed something light and easy going, a couple of my great Goodreads friends suggested Six Impossible Things and it was exactly what I needed.
Dan’s life has quickly been turned upside down, from living with his parents and attending a private school with his friend Fred, he’s just found out his dad’s gay, thei More...
Dan’s life has quickly been turned upside down, from living with his parents and attending a private school with his friend Fred, he’s just found out his dad’s gay, thei More...
5 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Jan 10, 2011
oliviasbooks
rated it:
This fulfilling story of friendship, loneliness, loyalty and love has two important ingredients going for it:
1. Awfully sweet, but realistic characters (There is no need to emphasize his unquestionably cute infatuation with his next door neighbor Estelle, because I loved 15-years-old hero Dan for caring so much about his inherited and footsore dog Harold and for trying to pull his freshly divorced and impoverished mom out of her misery and her imagined talks to her idol Thom Yorke an More...
1. Awfully sweet, but realistic characters (There is no need to emphasize his unquestionably cute infatuation with his next door neighbor Estelle, because I loved 15-years-old hero Dan for caring so much about his inherited and footsore dog Harold and for trying to pull his freshly divorced and impoverished mom out of her misery and her imagined talks to her idol Thom Yorke an More...
21 comments
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(13 people liked it)
Sep 05, 2011
Joy (joyous reads)
rated it:
If there ever was a teenager who should get a lifetime pass for rebellion, I think Dan Cereille was a prime candidate.
He’s barely fifteen.
His parents are separating.
His father just announced he’s gay.
New school. New life. New house. New sets of problems for this socially inept nerd-boy.
You say upheaval, I say understatement.
Most of the time, I found myself hugging this book, imagining that I was hugging Dan. No, I’m not More...
He’s barely fifteen.
His parents are separating.
His father just announced he’s gay.
New school. New life. New house. New sets of problems for this socially inept nerd-boy.
You say upheaval, I say understatement.
Most of the time, I found myself hugging this book, imagining that I was hugging Dan. No, I’m not More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 03, 2011
Shirley
rated it: 
Six Impossible Things is about the Top 6 List that Dan Cereill (that's surreal and not cereal) has started inside his diary since his dad turned gay and his broke & charmingly-unhinged Mum moved them into their now dead aunt's house. Number 1 on the list being what he deems the most impossible: Kissing Estelle, his dream girl-next-door.
Let me begin by saying that I love the tone of this book. It is quirky and unusual in that it is written from a teenage boy's point-of-view, but inste More...
Let me begin by saying that I love the tone of this book. It is quirky and unusual in that it is written from a teenage boy's point-of-view, but inste More...
4 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Oct 17, 2010
Van
rated it:
Fiona Wood's Six Impossible Things is a delightful Cinderella story about unexpected miracles. Dan Cereill is a lovable dork whose thin grasp of social status dissolves completely when his Dad comes out as gay, the family business collapses and he and his mum are forced by circumstances to eke out a living from little more than their wits alone. To complicate an already desperate situation, Dan experiences his first bittersweet-and-occasionally-very-funny crush on the dreamgirl next door, Estell
More...
0 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 04, 2012
Michelle
rated it:
A good read.
14/15 year old Dan deals with his parents separation due to the father being gay, having to move schools, falling for the girl next door and having no money.
14/15 year old Dan deals with his parents separation due to the father being gay, having to move schools, falling for the girl next door and having no money.
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 04, 2011
Janelle
rated it:
This was my choice for my annual Boxing Day read-a-book-whilst-hubby-watches-cricket.
I truly loved this book. Fiona Wood has channelled the 15 year old male psyche beautifully, and has crafted a tale of loss - and being found again.
She's going to be making wedding cakes. It wouldn't occur to everyone in the throes of a marriage breakdown, but we do irony in the house in addition to sarcasm
We look at each other with shy relief. It's the look two odd socks give w More...
I truly loved this book. Fiona Wood has channelled the 15 year old male psyche beautifully, and has crafted a tale of loss - and being found again.
She's going to be making wedding cakes. It wouldn't occur to everyone in the throes of a marriage breakdown, but we do irony in the house in addition to sarcasm
We look at each other with shy relief. It's the look two odd socks give w More...
Jan 07, 2012
Steve.lovell
rated it:
On my imminent retirement, after thirty-five plus years teaching, my daughter asked if I’d now cease reading YA novels. Being a writer in that genre herself, the question came somewhat as a surprise as I so enjoy the authorship of practitioners in that field. I realise there are some commentators who look down on writing for young people from a great height to consider it unworthy of their prognosis, but the best of it, in my view, takes a special talent. For this demographic a special lan More...
Sep 17, 2011
ALPHAreader
rated it:
Dan Cereill (pronounced ‘surreal’, not ‘cereal’) has undergone a rude awakening. At the same time that his mother inherited a heritage-listed house from her dead great-aunt Adelaide, she discovered that her husband was both gay and bankrupt and they would have to move into said heritage-listed abode because the bank was repossessing everything else.
And so, Dan finds himself living in a piss-smelling, run-down relic, not talking to his ‘out’ dad, about to start on the bottom rung at a More...
And so, Dan finds himself living in a piss-smelling, run-down relic, not talking to his ‘out’ dad, about to start on the bottom rung at a More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jul 22, 2011
Holly
rated it:
Fourteen-year-old Dan Cereil’s life couldn’t be more upside down. Not only has his father come out of the closet but he’s left Dan and his mum to move house and find another source of income after his company folded and he’s moved out. Luckily it would seem Dan’s great aunt Adelaide has just so conveniently died leaving them her historic home. Unfortunately it’s in various states of disrepair and needs to be refitted for his mother’s new wedding cake business. Compounded by Dan’s geeky and shy t
More...
0 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Sep 11, 2010
YA Reads
rated it:
It always seems to be that when one thing goes wrong in your life, other things like to join in and make it even worse. When it rains it pours right? It’s under these circumstances that we meet fourteen year old Dan Cereill.
After his father’s business goes broke, he announces that he’s bankrupt, gay and moving out. Dan and his mother are left to face the liquidators as Dan’s whole life is literally taken away from him. At the same time, his mother’s great Aunt Adelaide has passed awa More...
After his father’s business goes broke, he announces that he’s bankrupt, gay and moving out. Dan and his mother are left to face the liquidators as Dan’s whole life is literally taken away from him. At the same time, his mother’s great Aunt Adelaide has passed awa More...
Jun 24, 2011
Emily
rated it:
There's this book I like.
Well, like might be a bit of an understatement. I LOVE Fiona Wood's Six Impossible Things with a fiery passion. If, in some sort of unforeseeable situation, I needed to take a bullet for this book? Well it was great knowing you guys.
This is a book full of not-so-secret diaries, wedding cakes, ancient houses, hidden attics, pretty shoes and pretty girls, Radiohead (with an unhealthy Thom Yorke obsession thrown in), sneaking out and a loveable dog More...
Well, like might be a bit of an understatement. I LOVE Fiona Wood's Six Impossible Things with a fiery passion. If, in some sort of unforeseeable situation, I needed to take a bullet for this book? Well it was great knowing you guys.
This is a book full of not-so-secret diaries, wedding cakes, ancient houses, hidden attics, pretty shoes and pretty girls, Radiohead (with an unhealthy Thom Yorke obsession thrown in), sneaking out and a loveable dog More...
9 comments
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(12 people liked it)
Apr 24, 2011
Jess - The Tales Compendium
rated it:
I have had a really hard time trying to review this book. I loved it and I was pretty sure I would as I had read so many fantastic reviews of it. But my mind is in holiday mode and words are not working for me right now so here is the jist of what I think...
Six things I loved about it:
*It was very funny with plenty of irony and sarcasm
*All the characters were developed fantastically and there was someone for everyone to identify with
* Dan's situation is common in re More...
Six things I loved about it:
*It was very funny with plenty of irony and sarcasm
*All the characters were developed fantastically and there was someone for everyone to identify with
* Dan's situation is common in re More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 22, 2011
Carla
rated it:
This book is, in a word, HILARIOUS.
Y’know, I’m one of those people that has a really weird and skew-wiff sense of humor so when a book really makes me full belly laugh out loud, well, we’re onto a winner folks. Basically, Dan is the kind of protagonist I open a LOT of books looking for and never find. He is srsly uncool, what with the being kicked out of private school because he’s not rich anymore. Sucks right? Well, throw in a just out of the closet dad, a mother that is obsessed w More...
Y’know, I’m one of those people that has a really weird and skew-wiff sense of humor so when a book really makes me full belly laugh out loud, well, we’re onto a winner folks. Basically, Dan is the kind of protagonist I open a LOT of books looking for and never find. He is srsly uncool, what with the being kicked out of private school because he’s not rich anymore. Sucks right? Well, throw in a just out of the closet dad, a mother that is obsessed w More...
Sep 13, 2011
Choco
rated it:
I enjoy YA books, but hardly ever have I swooned over male love interests in them (because I'm older?). Having finished Six Impossible Things, I so wish I were a teenager because I would have obsessed with Dan the main character. He is my kind of guy. Just LOVED him. To tell you the truth I may have even swooned a little bit.
Another thing I loved about the book is tiny details, like Estelle the girl next-door's preference for banana milkshakes with syrup rather than actual bananas. More...
Another thing I loved about the book is tiny details, like Estelle the girl next-door's preference for banana milkshakes with syrup rather than actual bananas. More...
0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Sep 06, 2011
Maggie
rated it:
Meet Dan Cereill.
Fourteen, smart, and totally adorkable. He’s also dealing with:
1. His parents’ divorce
2. ...on account of his father being gay.
3. Having to move and start a new school
4. ...because dad lost their savings.
5. Trying to shed his loser image and impress the girl next door
6. ...as he ends up answering to ‘dickhead’ in front of her on the first day of school.
Needless to say, things aren’t going well. After moving into More...
Fourteen, smart, and totally adorkable. He’s also dealing with:
1. His parents’ divorce
2. ...on account of his father being gay.
3. Having to move and start a new school
4. ...because dad lost their savings.
5. Trying to shed his loser image and impress the girl next door
6. ...as he ends up answering to ‘dickhead’ in front of her on the first day of school.
Needless to say, things aren’t going well. After moving into More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 02, 2011
Greenbreak
rated it:
Well, I have to say that I have just read one of the best Young Adult novels to have crossed my path EVER! I can write this with the knowledge that out of the hundreds of books I get through each year this is a total standout.
Thank you, Fiona Wood for creating such skillful, clever and extremely witty dialogue which is delivered by the most unique, accessible and fascinating characters.
Dan is the adorable lead, in this rolling ball of family and social calamities as he throws his l More...
Thank you, Fiona Wood for creating such skillful, clever and extremely witty dialogue which is delivered by the most unique, accessible and fascinating characters.
Dan is the adorable lead, in this rolling ball of family and social calamities as he throws his l More...
Oct 09, 2011
Kay
rated it:
Dan is a kid whose world is falling apart around him. His family goes broke; his dad announces that he’s gay; Dan and his mother move into an old house left to her by a great-aunt with very little to eat.
It wouldn’t be so hard starting again except Dan’s mum decides to start a wedding cake business … and she keeps talking the clients out of their weddings.
Dan is an angry fifteen-year-old who nevertheless maintains his sweetness. He wants to kiss Estelle, the pretty and en More...
It wouldn’t be so hard starting again except Dan’s mum decides to start a wedding cake business … and she keeps talking the clients out of their weddings.
Dan is an angry fifteen-year-old who nevertheless maintains his sweetness. He wants to kiss Estelle, the pretty and en More...
Sep 30, 2011
Janice (Janicu)
rated it:
Review from my book blog (wordpress / livejournal)
The Premise: I love the one already on the back blurb: “Fourteen year old nerd-boy Dan Ceriell 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 the girl next door. His life is a mess, but for now he’s narrowed it down to just six impossible things… “
My Thoughts: Poor Dan.Things do not begin wel More...
The Premise: I love the one already on the back blurb: “Fourteen year old nerd-boy Dan Ceriell 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 the girl next door. His life is a mess, but for now he’s narrowed it down to just six impossible things… “
My Thoughts: Poor Dan.Things do not begin wel More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 12, 2010
Romy
rated it:
Congratulations are in order for Fiona Wood she has written a thoroughly entertaining debut YA novel which I devoured in only a couple of days. Six Impossible Things is a funny and poignant coming of age novel with a nerdy yet loveable protagonist who I have to say I have a bit of a soft spot for.
Dan’s had a bad couple of months, his mother is broke due to his fathers bankruptcy, his father just ‘came out of the closet’, he’s moved with his mother into an old house that’s cold and sm More...
Dan’s had a bad couple of months, his mother is broke due to his fathers bankruptcy, his father just ‘came out of the closet’, he’s moved with his mother into an old house that’s cold and sm More...
0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Sep 01, 2011
Reynje
rated it:
Guys, I kind of want to hug this book.
Funny and endearing, Fiona Wood’s loose interpretation of Cinderella has just the right balance of quirk and emotion. Narrated by fourteen year old nerd-boy Dan Cereill (anagrams FTW!), from the intriguing prologue to the grin-inducing last line, Six Impossible Things is a charming little novel.
It’s a light read, in the sense that the prose flows smoothly and the dialogue is snappy (Wood’s experience as a television scriptwri More...
6 comments
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(20 people liked it)
Dec 12, 2011
Samantha-Ellen
rated it:
It's cute and cool, most definitely. Funny and awkward in the most endearing of ways. It never quite felt 'real' to me - though, and by this I mean every problem seems to have a happy, convenient resolution, and the emotional heart of it doesn't quite ring true. It's very entertaining and I can't fault the writing; it's one of those books where I can't actually find anything wrong, but it just didn't quite suit my tastes. I love quirky and awkward and silly-funny, but I like there to be a li
More...
Sep 15, 2011
Skye
rated it:
This review is also posted on my blog, In The Good Books.
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 movie More...
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 movie More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
May 09, 2011
greenbreak
rated it:
Well, I have to say that I have just read one of the best Young Adult novels to have crossed my path EVER! I can write this with the knowledge that out of the hundreds of books I get through each year this is a total standout.
Thank you, Fiona Wood for creating such skillful, clever and extremely witty dialogue which is delivered by the most unique, accessible and fascinating characters.
Dan is the adorable lead, in this rolling ball of family and social calamities as he throws his lov More...
Thank you, Fiona Wood for creating such skillful, clever and extremely witty dialogue which is delivered by the most unique, accessible and fascinating characters.
Dan is the adorable lead, in this rolling ball of family and social calamities as he throws his lov More...
Nov 10, 2011
Ariel
rated it:
No time to write a review so I'll make a quick list instead of why I like the book:
1) One of the most plausible male character written on male perspective by a female author.
2) The writer was able to connect to me through the things I like. (i.e. season finale of Skins Mad World cover and Kings of Leon)
3) I like that the author wrote it as simple as possible, a straightforward storytelling.
4) It was loosely based on Cinderella and the main characte More...
1) One of the most plausible male character written on male perspective by a female author.
2) The writer was able to connect to me through the things I like. (i.e. season finale of Skins Mad World cover and Kings of Leon)
3) I like that the author wrote it as simple as possible, a straightforward storytelling.
4) It was loosely based on Cinderella and the main characte More...
4 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Nov 17, 2011
Tina
rated it:
Original post at One More Page
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood is a loose retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale with a guy as the main character. Dan Cereill's life just kind of fell apart. His parents split after his dad came out, they lost their family fortune, he moved to a new-old house and transferred to a new school and his mom opened a wedding cake business that was doomed to fail from the start. And then there's his neighbor, Estelle, who's caught his eye and his heart fr More...
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood is a loose retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale with a guy as the main character. Dan Cereill's life just kind of fell apart. His parents split after his dad came out, they lost their family fortune, he moved to a new-old house and transferred to a new school and his mom opened a wedding cake business that was doomed to fail from the start. And then there's his neighbor, Estelle, who's caught his eye and his heart fr More...
3 comments
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(8 people liked it)
Nov 01, 2011
Ari
rated it:
Rating: 5 shiny stars from the midnight sky and a litlle moon :)
S More...
"I saw Estelle for the first time that day.
She stopped outside our place and stared into the bare branches of the footpath plane tree. First checking there was no one nearby she turned slowly around and around, framing her view of the twig-snaggled sky with a hand held to her eye.
Then she walked into the house next door, half dizzy, smiling, and carrying my heart.
There’s this sky she likes."
S More...
5 comments
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(7 people liked it)
