Title: Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend [on Amazon | on Goodreads]Series: None (though the author used to have plans for a sequel and maybe still has)
Author: Matthew Green (pen name for UK and Australia, but elsewhere he publishes under his real name Matthew Dicks) [Site | Matthew Green on Goodreads | Matthew Dicks on Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist
Year: 2012
Age: 14+ (but it's more geared towards adults)
Stars: 4.5/5
Pros: Candid, insightful, magical and heartwarming.
Cons: The simple writing style (tailored on the narrator) may not be everybody's cup of tea.
WARNING! An instance of fat-shaming and food-belittling (even if imaginary friends don't eat, it doesn't sit right). Some violence.
Will appeal to: Those who never completely outgrew their imaginary friend. Those who could still use one.
Blurb: Budo is been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age, and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear.
Max is different from other children. Some people say that he has Asperger's Syndrome, but most just say he's "on the spectrum." None of this matters to Budo, who loves Max and is charged with protecting him. But he can't protect Max from Mrs. Patterson, the woman who works with Max in the Learning Center and who believes that she alone is qualified to care for this young boy. When Mrs. Patterson does the unthinkable and kidnaps Max, it is up to Budo and a team of imaginary friends to save him - and Budo must ultimately decide which is more important: Max's happiness or Budo's very existence. (Amazon excerpt)
Review: A deceptively simple novel that tackles autism from a different perspective, along with themes such as courage, sacrifice, friendship, family and the power of imagination.
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is, to the best of my knowledge, a unique book in more than a way. Not only the imaginary friend himself narrates the story (and while I read an anthology based on the same concept, I've never come across another novel that does it so far), but his human maker - for lack of a better word - is a little boy on the autistic spectrum (though his condition is never explicitly named in the book). Budo is a fascinating character, who allegedly has been able to evolve through the years and his observation of people, all while maintaining a basic naïveté - which doesn't prevent him to have some spot-on insights about the world as he knows it, and the adults in it. He also muses about his own existence and is well aware that, as soon as Max stops needing him, he will disappear. This causes an internal conflict for a while (though Budo loves Max dearly and tries to protect him at all costs) that some reviewers found petty, but to me, only adds to Budo's "humanity" and paves the way for his growth. [...]
BEING HUMAN
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is, to the best of my knowledge, a unique book in more than a way. Not only the imaginary friend himself narrates the story (and while I read an anthology based on the same concept, I've never come across another novel that does it so far), but his human maker - for lack of a better word - is a little boy on the autistic spectrum (though his condition is never explicitly named in the book). Budo is a fascinating character, who allegedly has been able to evolve through the years and his observation of people, all while maintaining a basic naïveté - which doesn't prevent him to have some spot-on insights about the world as he knows it, and the adults in it. He also muses about his own existence and is well aware that, as soon as Max stops needing him, he will disappear. This causes an internal conflict for a while (though Budo loves Max dearly and tries to protect him at all costs) that some reviewers found petty, but to me, only adds to Budo's "humanity" and paves the way for his growth. [...]
