Impossible

Werlin, Nancy. 2008. Impossible. New York: Dial Books. ISBN 9780803730021

Plot Summary

From the sting of my curse she can never be free

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Unless she unravels my riddlings three

She will be a true love of mine

Seventeen-year-old Lucy Scarborough is unaware of the curse that was laid upon the women in her family by an Elfin Knight. At age eighteen, Lucy will give birth to a daughter and go insane, just like her mother did. For generations each Scarborough girl has grown up alone, abandoned by her mad mother, with no idea of her fate except for a version of the Scarborough Faire ballad that details the three impossible tasks she must perform to escape the curse.

On the night of her junior prom, Lucy’s date rapes her and then dies in an automobile accident. A month later, Lucy finds out that she is pregnant, and the curse is set in motion. Unlike the women before her, Lucy has a family, the loving foster parents who took her pregnant mother in and raised Lucy as their own. Lucy has Zach, the boy next door, whose love for Lucy creates a magic of its own. Lucy also has a note from her mother, a note that she finds too late to escape the curse completely but which provides her the chance to break the curse forever.

Critical Analysis

 

Impossible is a fantasy with nail biting suspense and a riddle that seems impossible to solve without the wealth of information available on the internet. “Modern logic and methodology mesh splendidly with fairy lore; if emergency contraception won't break the curse, then maybe duct tape will.” (Kirkus)  

“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.” (School Library Journal) Due to her mother's madness, Lucy has spent a lifetime watching for any sign of it in herself; her gradual acceptance of the reality of the magical curse is believable because she and her family are initially very skeptical and practical. The undeniable clues to the existence of the curse are revealed to Lucy and her family one by one, allowing them time to accept this new magical reality. 

Although Impossible deals with date rape, teenage pregnancy and marriage, it is not a problem novel. Lucy takes emergency contraception after the rape, but it fails. Once she realizes that she is pregnant, she decides to keep the baby and does not waver in her decision. The love between Lucy and Zach seems destined even without the added incentives of impending parenthood and madness. Occasional detailed explanations of some aspects of pregnancy are the only reminder that the book’s intended audience may need additional facts about pregnancy in general.

Review Citation

Montgomery, Jennifer D. 2008. "Impossible." School Library Journal 54, no. 9: 194-196.

2008. "IMPOSSIBLE." Kirkus Reviews 76, no. 15: 231.