BOOKS
Created: 14th January, 2016

The Imaginary

Author: A F Harrold
Illustrator: Emily Gravett
Publisher: Bloomsbury

When Rudger appears one day in Amanda’s wardrobe, he quickly becomes her best friend even though no-one else can see him. Her busy mother is sympathetic, especially when she is reminded that she too had an ‘imaginary’ friend as a child. Life is fun for Amanda and Rudger but one day there is a knock at the door and things take a sinister turn. An exciting adventure which poses some existential questions. Who is real and who is imaginary? What does it mean to be ‘real’? Do you exist if you can’t be seen by everyone? Did you exist if you are not remembered?

Emily Gravett’s illustrations, mainly in black and white with some colour highlights, convey shadowy subtlety and some scary moments as well as humour in the characters’ expressions.

Also by this author and illustrator team: The Afterwards (9781408894347), Bloomsbury £7.99