laid across the engine. and you get use to feeling what you are doing the more you work on gm v6'* the grand am body style is way worse

The rachet would have helped me. I ended up trying all kinds of different 3/8 and 1/2 in things I had. Different tools worked for different plugs on the back.

The thread is old..., but in this case the problem persists.

Getting the boots off the plugs is difficult. Pulling the metal shield back loosens the pressure on the boot. Repeated twisting over a few days seemed to help along with the really strong grip my neighbor has that let him get the worst one to break loose.

Hint: don't put WD40 or anything on the boot to try to loosen it from the porcelain.

But when you put the new plugs in, a small dab of dielectric grease in the boot helps next time you change the plugs.