Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

by Matthew Dicks

[elvinagb]

Eight year old Max is "living on the spectrum" whether it is Asperger's syndrome or Autism and like many small children created an imaginary friend to help him cope with a world he doesn't understand. His friend, Budo, has been around for five year, a very long time for an imaginary friend but Budo helps him manage going to school everyday and deal with everyday situations, including a Grade five bully named Tommy Swindon. Budo can only been seen by Max and by other imaginary friends, some of whom have very strange appearances like foot tall dolls or wooden spoons with eyes.
When Max disappears from school one day, it is up to Budo to save him. This is going to be hard for someone who relies on a little boys imagination to stay "alive", and who can't talk or interact with the real world. Budo must find a way by using what he has learned from Max and other adults he has listened to to find a way to save Max and himself. If Max stops believing in him, Budo will die.
This book is a great look at the lives of children on the spectrum but it is a hard read if you try and categorize it as a book for children, teens or adults. The voice of an imaginary being is sometimes hard to listen too, he repeats himself and there is much about the world he does not know. It leaves you wanting to know more about some of the other people Budo comes into contact with, like the bully Tommy, or Dee at the gas station and especially Oswald. Oswald is a character who needed to spend more time in the book. This book is a great read if you can get past Budo's young, imaginary existence.