Six Impossible Things by Australian author, Fiona Wood, is a young adult novel that takes us through the complicated life of fifteen year old Dan Cereill.

Dan is figuring out how to get through these awkward teenage years that everyone has to go through in their life. The only issue that is not helping Dan’s case is that his parents are getting a divorce from the recent coming out news of his father. His father is gay, left him and Dan’s mother nothing but scrap, they are barely getting by, and then there is Dan’s dream girl, Estelle, who does not know he exists. Everything came so quick upon Dan and his mother. He is a fourteen, going on fifteen, awkward, nerdy boy who now needs to step up and take upon the role of the manly figure to help his mom through her separation and keeping their heads above water. This is Dan’s new life and with this, he writes himself a list of six things to keep himself in line and to live his best life. 1: Kiss Estelle. 2: Get a job. 3: Cheer his mom up. 4: Not be a nerd. 5: Try to talk to his father. 6: Become a better version of himself.

Dan’s mother had a great aunt Adelaide that has recently passed, and lucky for them, Adelaide has left his mother her house in the will. This should have been their shining light. They would not have to live out on the streets, but for Dan’s mother, this was only the start of the longing stress they will go through while dealing with being broke. For Dan, this move brought him Estelle. Estelle is the girl next door who he falls hard for. All Estelle is aware of is that she has brand new neighbors. That is the extent of Dan and Estelle, thus far in the novel. Dan had to leave his old life and school behind. His only friend Fred, has been living with his mother in London for a couple of months before he goes back to live with his dad and step mother, closer to Dan. Dan forced to start a new school, he is not faced exactly with the warmest welcome. For the first couple months of starting this new school, Dan is bullied by a kid named Jayzo. Dan spots Estelle everywhere he goes yet they still have not came in physical contact with each other.

Along with the house that was left for Dan and his mother, came with Adelaide’s dog Howard. Dan quickly becomes attached to Howard. Howard can sometimes be a good distraction to Dan, to take his mind off of the fact that him and his mother are struggling. His mom is trying her best to keep their family afloat. She has begun to start a business of making wedding cakes. Very ironic. Her new business has a slow start, middle and a slow finish but she is trying her best. Dan and his mother both are put under a lot of stress and they take it out on each other. Though everything has been so tough on Dan, he realizes that he needs to step up and help out more. He first starts by looking for a job.

After having his first awkward interaction with Estelle, he knows that she is someone who he cannot let go of. Estelle’s attic of her house and Dan’s attic share a wall, Dan takes this to do some exploring. Creepy? He gets to know everything about her by rummaging through her personal belongings and her diary. Dan gets a job at a local bakery shop, while his mothers wedding cake business is not exactly beaming. The two of them eventually met a young man Oliver, who will begin to become a close friend who helps Dan on the physical look aspect. Oliver gives Dan his old clothes and teaches him how to shave. All of this is happening and Dan still refuses to talk to his father, who had been religiously calling hoping to speak to his son. On Dan’s third entering of Estelle’s attic, he is not as sneaky as he thought and she catches him. Through all of this, Dan has been able to form a relationship with Estelle and her friend Janie. The bullying at his school has calmed down a tad. He has made a friend, Lou, who then begins a relationship with Dan’s best friend Fred. Getting through high school is tough, but not as tough as kissing a girl, at least to Dan.

With his mothers business keeping them afloat and picking up another job, Dan working to save up money, becoming closer to Estelle, becoming less nerdy at his school, and trying to accept his father for being gay, Dan’s life has done an one-hundred-eighty degree turn. His mother seems happier and eventually begins to casual date Dan’s boss. He has waited until the school dance to finally kiss Estelle. After this magical kiss and moment between them, Dan tells her that he has read her diaries. This causes a brief moment of angry, but the next morning, after Oliver has saved the school Dance from Dan’s screw up, Dan and Estelle realize that their feelings are mutual and everything seems to be falling into place for Dan and his mother. He actually starts to miss his father. We look back on Dan’s list that he wrote throughout the novel, and you could have guessed that by the end of this book, his six impossible things are not so impossible anymore.

Wood, Fiona Anna. Six Impossible Things . Poppy, 2010.

For my second blog post, I want to discuss the importance that children’s literacy leaves on the lives of children. It is vital that we give the growing minds of children the opportunity to read literature and learn upon this. I will be referencing an article post published by Dantri International News titled, “Books For Children, Still A Challenge For Vietnamese Authors”, posted on August 6, 2010.

Literature gives children and students the appreciation to learn about their own culture, their ancestors, and history. Reading literature guides students through their success in life and helps them through their cognitive thinking and abilities. We already know all of this; we know how important it is for children to have access to literature. We might not have thought a lot about this because in the United States, it is so simple for children to have access to children’s literature. In other countries, this is not as simple. Vietnamese children and students are lacking the same reading qualities that kids in other countries have the access to. There is not a wide range of literate for children in Vietnam because authors are not able to write novels for them. This is not because they physically cannot write and publish books, it is because Vietnamese authors have little understanding of this new generation of children. The authors have an easier time writing for the older audiences in Vietnam, because they can relate to them and their generation better. So, because of this, children’s literature is being brushed under the rug and not being put on a high pedi stool solely because authors do not know how to write for children. “In addition, authors who spent their childhoods in wartime and the harsh periods after liberation have little understanding of this generation of children and what type of reading they enjoy” (http://dtinews.vn/en/news/023001/4020/books-for-children-still-a-challenge-for-vietnamese-authors.html, 2010). Though I understand that these authors grew up in a time that is completely different from now, I believe this is no excuse to disregard writing children’s literacy. One author stated that because online gaming is so big right now, he does not know enough about it to be able to write a novel for children’s liking. I think that their government needs to take better action for children’s literacy because they are our future. Reading literature should be incorporated into their daily lives, no excuse. Literature nourishes the developments of children’s social skills and shapes them into their personalities. I cannot stress enough how important this is.

Works Cited:

Giỏi, Hoàng Mạnh. “Books for Children Still a Challenge for Vietnamese Authors.” Vietnam’s Literacy Rate Reaches 97.3 Percent | DTiNews – Dan Tri International, the News Gateway of Vietnam, 6 Aug. 2010, dtinews.vn/en/news/023001/4020/books-for-children-still-a-challenge-for-vietnamese-authors.html.

For my first blog post, I want to discuss the limitations on young adult literature. The rising question of when is the content, in young adult literacy, too much – or too adult – for young readers minds? I will be referencing an online CNN post I found that titles, “New Zealand Bans Young Adult Novel; First Book Ban in 22 years”, posted on September 8, 2015 by Euan McKirdy.

There is a fine line, I believe, in writing young adult literature when the author should know how far the young adult readers’ mind should stretch when reading about serious content. Obviously, we cannot keep our children and young adults away from reading topics about, race, violence, sexuality, wars, and etc.; these sensitive and serious topics should be read and talked about, but an author should know when he or she takes it too far. An award winning author in New Zealand, Ted Dawe, wrote a young adult novel Into the River, and this was eventually taken notice by a family advocacy group, in New Zealand, called Family First who complained. This caused the novel to be taken out of circulation by New Zealand’s Film and Literature Board. The reasoning behind this was because, “The group objects to the graphic language and themes contained in the book, including “strong offensive language, strong sexual descriptions (and) covers serious things like pedophilia and sexual abuse,” according to Bob McCoskrie, National Director, Family First NZ” (McKirdy, CNN, 2015). Young adult literate should be meant for young adults to escape into the world of the book. Here they can prepare themselves into the world of adulthood, by reading about content that they might face in the real world. But, is talking about sexual content, to an extent, too much? New Zealand seems to think so. At first, they were only limiting the age restriction on the book, but then they eventually decided to ban it all together. With this action from the country, this will lead other countries to be cautious with their literacy for children, or this will either make other countries look down upon them if they think this action was taken too far. For myself, I would not want my young adult child reading about gratuitous sexual content but for others, this might be okay. I agree with New Zealand’s action and think it is upstanding that they are looking out for their children’s literacy in their country.

Works Cited:

McKirdy, Euan. “New Zealand Bans Young Adult Novel ‘Into the River’.” CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Sept. 2015, www.cnn.com/2015/09/08/asia/new-zealand-book-ban/index.html.