Memoirs of An Imaginary Friend

In Matthew Dicks' novel, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, our narrator, Budo, introduces himself by telling us that he’s been alive for five years, which is positively ancient for an imaginary friend. Max Delaney is the human friend that imagined him and the only human person who can see him, and while Max’s parents call him an imaginary friend, Budo insists he’s not imaginary. Budo is pretty lucky as imaginary friends go, since Max is creative, Budo has two arms, two legs, a face, and he’s not even missing any body parts, which is a rarity in the world of imaginary friends. Why Budo has seen all different types of imaginary friends; one looked like a boy-sized spoon with two big round eyes, a tiny mouth and stick figure legs and arms; heck, he even knew one friend called Chomp, who was just a spot on the wall – he could talk and slide up and down the wall, but he couldn’t pry himself off. Most imaginary friends aren’t lucky enough to be able to walk and talk like Budo. He can even pass through things like doors and windows even when closed, because Max imagined him that way, though imaginary friends can’t touch or move things in the real world.

Max imagined Budo when he was just four years old, and as his friend Budo loves and protects Max at all times. Max is what some people call “on the spectrum.” Budo doesn’t understand why everyone thinks Max is so complicated, he knows that “Max just doesn’t like people in the same way other kids do. He likes people, but it’s a different kind of liking. He likes people from far away”, and since he can’t touch Max and Max can’t touch Budo, it’s probably why they get along so well. Budo protects Max when he gets stuck, which is when he gets upset and he rocks back and forth; his eyes are open but he can’t really see anything. Max explained to him once that when he’s stuck “he can hear the people around him, but it sounds like they are coming from a television in the neighbor’s house – fake and far away.” Budo also protects him at school, from bullies and buses; and while he loves Mrs. Gosk’s class, he doesn’t trust Mrs. Patterson, a paraprofessional that works with Max, because “she’s always thinking something different in her head than what is on her face.”

Budo hopes he can always be with Max but he fears the day that Max will stop believing in him since he knows then he will disappear; just fade away, like his friend Graham did when her human friend Meghan didn’t need her anymore. When despite his best efforts the unthinkable happens, Budo turns to other imaginary friends to try and save Max, and in doing so is forced to choose between Max’s safety and his own existence.

I was completely captivated and enchanted by Budo and Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. In Budo, Matthew Dicks has given readers an original and authentic voice that offers readers a glimpse into a magical world with so many dimensions and so much heart that it seems almost real. Budo embodies the innocence of a child, including their shrewd perceptiveness, like the way a child can see beyond someone’s artificial façade straight through to their heart and true self, the way Budo does with Mrs. Patterson. While Budo shares Max’s childlike sense of wonder, he’s also fascinated by the adult world and is therefore more alert and aware than Max as to the dangers in the real world.

In addition to Memoirs’ charm and wit, Budo’s innocent yet astute descriptions of Max’s quirks and fears, also give us some insight into the small and at times insulated world of a child with autism; helping us to better empathize and understand their mindset and limitations. While the book is very sweet and uplifting, there are some tense moments related to Max’s rescue, as well as some incredibly poignant passages that touched my heart and brought a lump to my throat which involved Budo branching out to a children’s hospital to get help because he says it’s the best place to find imaginary friends – even better than schools – because sick kids “need imaginary friends to keep them company when their parents go home and they are left with the beeping machines and flashing lights.”

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is a wonderfully imaginative and winsome tale of love and friendship with a few dark clouds thrown in under an otherwise blue sky that only serve to make us love our unique and brave hero even more.

Defending Jacob

In William Landay’s mystery and courtroom drama, Defending Jacob, 51-year old Andy Barber is a successful assistant district attorney, happily married to Laurie, the girl he met in college thirty-odd years before and for whom he still feels the thrill of first love. After 20 years on the job, Andy has seen it all, but then a shocking crime occurs in their peaceful community, a 14-year old boy is found stabbed to death in a park. Initially assigned the case, Andy is determined to find the culprit, focusing his attention on Leonard Patz, a sex offender new to the area, but as questions arise and facts are brought to light, the unthinkable happens and Andy’s own 14-year old son, Jacob, is accused and charged with the heinous murder of his classmate.

Forced to recuse himself from the trial, Andy steps down from his job and focuses his attention and experience on helping to defend his son. Jacob insists that he is innocent and Andy believes him for to him he is still that little boy of four whose bedtime routine included the question, “Who loves Jacob?” and the answer “Daddy does.” The Barber’s hire a local defense attorney to represent Jacob, and Andy determined to prove his son’s innocence begins the arduous task of digging for the truth; questioning Jacob’s past friends, stalking Patz, and even turning to someone from his own tortured past in hopes of vindicating his son. As they await the trial, the family is abandoned by friends and treated like pariahs in their community; as secrets are revealed Andy’s once loving marriage begins to crumble under the weight of fears and doubts, and he is forced to face his own demons and face a trial of his own.

This was easily my favorite read of the past year. It is no exaggeration to say it is as haunting as a specter, for upon finishing it you’ll find it stays with you and pops into your thoughts at random times, making you ponder the incredible journey, revelations, decisions and the moral dilemma posed on its pages. Despite the trial and courtroom scenes, it has a rapid fire pace, full of twists and turns, which will keep you on the edge of your seat and turning those pages long into the night.

The novel starts at a grand jury hearing in which Andy is answering questions from Neal Logiudice, his ex-colleague and current prosecutor, and flashes back through his testimony to twelve months earlier and the events surrounding Jacob’s trial; with Logiudice’s questioning continually interspersed throughout the book in between Andy’s narrative. The reader is in the dark as to the why of the grand jury and what has occurred; was the case won or lost, until near the end when the truth becomes horrifyingly clear.

Through Andy’s eyes we see a father’s heartache and fear at both his son’s uncertain future and the possibility, which doesn’t bear considering, that his boy is the monster he’s being made out to be by the law. While Andy’s blind faith and devotion in his son is seemingly never broken, Laurie’s character offers the perfect counterbalance, as she gives voice to the fear and doubts which most parents might have about their child’s capability and culpability in committing such a violent act, and if guilty, what role they played and guilt they bear in what occurred. Whether strengthened by his faith or sheer determination, throughout the ordeal Andy stands strong, the rock that both his son and wife lean on for support, but Laurie is beaten up by the trial and the limbo preceding it; becoming withdrawn and seemingly aging 10 years in a matter of months. Defending Jacob offers an honest look at the agonizing pain and uncertainty faced during a trial not only by the victim’s family but by that of the accused as well.

In addition to the heart-wrenching family drama, Defending Jacob raises numerous questions, such as the issue of nurture vs. nature, the impact of bullying in our society, the almost laughable standard of a presumption of innocence, which as Andy and his family painfully realize is closer to guilty until proven innocent, as well as the larger moral question of the extent to which a parent would go to protect their child, whether right or wrong, innocent or guilty.

Defending Jacob is moving, poignant and utterly unforgettable. The last few pages and in particular the last sentence in the book will hit you like a punch to your gut that both takes your breath away and brings tears to your eyes. Defending Jacob is a book that will stay with me forever and is without a doubt one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Fall/Winter Book Preview

With fall upon us and winter just around the corner, tis the season for cozying up to a great book as we wile away the hours during the long winter nights. I love winter days spent in the comfort of home; snuggled on the couch under a warm fluffy blanket with a cup of hot tea and a good book; having snow gently falling outside, blanketing the surroundings is an added bonus. There’s a wonderful silence when snow starts to fall that's just perfect for reading; it’s like nature holds its collective breath as it takes in the beauty around it.

I like nothing better than to be prepared, so in anticipation of the long nights and possible (fingers crossed) snow days on which to play hooky from work, I surfed online to find just the right mix of reading materials to comprise my fall and winter reading list. Below are summaries for six books that I’ll be putting on my library hold list or purchasing on my Kindle; hopefully there’s something which captures your interest and imagination as well.

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow
By Rita Leganski (Published)

A magical debut novel from Rita Leganski, The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow is the tale of a mute boy whose gift of wondrous hearing reveals family secrets and forgotten voodoo lore, and exposes a murder that threatens the souls of those who love him. Bonaventure Arrow didn’t make a peep when he was born, and the doctor nearly took him for dead. But he was listening, placing sound inside quiet and gaining his bearings. By the time he turns five, he can hear flowers grow, a thousand shades of blue, and the miniature tempests that rage inside raindrops. He also hears the voice of his dead father, William Arrow, mysteriously murdered by a man known only as the Wanderer. Exploring family relics, he opens doors to the past and finds the key to a web of secrets that both hold his family together, and threaten to tear them apart. Set against the backdrop of 1950s New Orleans, The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow is a magical story about the lost art of listening and a wondrous little boy who brings healing to the souls of all who love him.

Doctor Sleep
By Stephen King (Published)

For many fans, the most terrifying King novel remains one of his earliest bestsellers, 1977's "The Shining." In that book, Danny Torrance -- a young boy with psychic powers -- picks up ominous messages from a sinister, haunted hotel. King picks up the narrative threads of The Shining many years on. Young psychic Danny Torrance has become a middle-aged alcoholic (he now goes by “Dan”), bearing his powers and his guilt as equal burdens. A lucky break gets him a job in a hospice in a small New England town. Using his abilities to ease the passing of the terminally ill, he remains blissfully unaware of the actions of the True Knot, a caravan of human parasites crisscrossing the map in their RVs as they search for children with “the shining” (psychic abilities of the kind that Dan possesses), upon whom they feed. When a girl named Abra Stone is born with powers that dwarf Dan’s, she attracts the attention of the True Knot’s leader—the predatory Rose the Hat. Dan is forced to help Abra confront the Knot, and face his own lingering demons.

The First Phone Call from Heaven
By Mitch Albom (Release Date: November 12, 2013)

One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax? As news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it. At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by "miracle fever." Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven. As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town—and the world—transforms. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart.

Someone Else’s Love Story
By Joshilyn Jackson (Release Date: November 19, 2013)

For single mom Shandi Pierce, life is a juggling act. She's finishing college; raising her delightful three-year-old genius son, Nathan, aka Natty Bumppo; and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Christian mother and Jewish father. She's got enough to deal with before she gets caught in the middle of a stickup in a gas station mini-mart and falls in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who steps between the armed robber and her son to shield the child from danger.

Shandi doesn't know that her blond god has his own baggage. When he looked down the barrel of the gun in the gas station he believed it was destiny: it's been exactly one year since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn't define destiny the way other people do. A brilliant geneticist who believes in science and numbers, destiny to him is about choice. Now, William and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head-on, making choices that will reveal unexpected truths about love, life, and the world they think they know.

The Invention of Wings
by Sue Monk Kidd (Release Date: January 7, 2014)

Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women. Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.

As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

In the Blood
By Lisa Unger (Release Date: January 7, 2014)

Someone knows Lana’s secret—and he’s dying to tell. Lana granger lives a life of lies. She has told so many lies about where she comes from and who she is that the truth is like a cloudy nightmare she can’t quite recall. About to graduate from college and with her trust fund almost tapped out, she takes a job babysitting a troubled boy named Luke. Expelled from schools all over the country, the manipulative young Luke is accustomed to control­ling the people in his life. But, in Lana, he may have met his match. Or has Lana met hers?
When Lana’s closest friend, Beck, mysteriously disappears, Lana resumes her lying ways—to friends, to the police, to herself. The police have a lot of questions for Lana when the story about her where­abouts the night Beck disappeared doesn’t jibe with eyewitness accounts. Lana will do anything to hide the truth, but it might not be enough to keep her ominous secrets buried: someone else knows about Lana’s lies. And he’s dying to tell.

All I Want

When it comes to the latest music, I am absolutely clueless. I don't own an iPhone or an MP3 player, so iTunes is foreign territory to me. Luckily, thanks to YouTube I discovered an amazing Irish band, Kodaline, that just recently released their first album "In a Perfect World." As soon as I watched the poignant music video for their debut single "All I Want" I rushed over to Amazon to buy their CD. I absolutely love the soaring vocals, as well as the beautiful lyrics, but it was this powerful video and its incredibly uplifting message that won me over.



Beautiful, huh? If you loved it as much as I did, then visit YouTube to watch All I Want, Part 2, and find out what happened to our hero and his canine pal.

Author Spotlight: Gillian Flynn

I loved each one of Gillian Flynn’s trio of spellbinding thrillers. I of course came late to the party, as usual, and discovered this great author only after all the ruckus caused by the last of her books, Gone Girl, had spent the better part of a year on the best sellers list. Flynn offers a bold and unique voice, as her protagonists are the antithesis of what we as readers have come to expect from our heroines; no sweet, meek, vulnerable, or lost women here. Flynn’s heroines are dark, flawed, and utterly captivating.

Flynn has said “Libraries are filled with stories on generations of brutal men, trapped in a cycle of aggression. I wanted to write about the violence of women… Isn’t it time to acknowledge the ugly side? I’ve grown quite weary of the spunky heroines, brave rape victims, soul-searching fashionistas that stock so many books. I particularly mourn the lack of female villains — good, potent female villains… I’m talking violent, wicked women. Scary women” and in these three page-turners does she ever deliver.

Each novel offers an ingenious and engrossing mystery which keeps you on the edge of your seat right until the last page. They are addictive, unputdownable books which will leave you chilled and mouth slightly ajar at the knowledge that such a sinister tale can come from one person’s brilliant yet twisted imagination. It’s no easy feat to take these unsympathetic leading characters and still make us care about their journey; a fact which speaks volumes about the quality of her storytelling.

While Gone Girl was the book that garnered the most buzz and which drew me to Flynn as an author, I actually read Dark Places first, followed by Sharp Objects, and Gone Girl last, and it’s also the order I would put them in as far as preference. Each one offers an unforgettable tale, but Dark Places hit me like a good punch to the solar plexus through its countless twists and turns; while Sharp Objects enthralled me as much by Camille, whom I found a haunting and pitiable character for whom I felt the utmost of compassion, as by the murder mystery.

Dark Places. I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her. The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.

Sharp Objects. WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart. Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory. As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

Gone Girl. On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister Margo at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

It comes as no surprise that the movie rights for each one of these great novels has already been sold. In fact, Gone Girl is already in production with none other than Ben Affleck cast in the role of Nick, and Dark Places will feature the beautiful Charlize Theron in the lead role of Libby Day, a choice which kind of sticks in my craw since she’s a gazillion miles from Libby as written, which was barely five foot in height or as Libby said "dwarfy", with faded freckles, pug nose and dyed white-blonde hair; nonetheless, I’ll reserve judgment on her casting until I see the film, since it’s as much about the performance as it is about the appearance.

A movie rarely does a great book justice for the true magic of the tale can only be found in the author’s written word, so pick up one or all of Flynn’s books and settle in for an incredible thrill ride which will both haunt and amaze.

Boob Tube Update

This summer was nothing but clean living and lots of reading, as I fully committed to my reading good/TV bad motto, but like Michael Corleone in the Godfather, “just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in” and as feared my old reliable friend, TV, lured me back with promises of fun, fame and fortune (so far I've only found a couple quarters under the sofa cushions). Anyway, below is a quick recap of my current boob tube favorites.

This week The Voice culled the teams for the requisite number of contestants to go to the live shows and in the process ripped my heart out by booting out my favorite from the auditions, Holly Henry. What was Blake thinking? I think he had a lil’ somethin’ somethin’ in his Starbucks cup. With the knockout rounds over, each coach now has five contestants representing their team, and for the most part each team is diverse enough, with a little bit of country, rock, and other genres thrown in, to offer something that appeals to everyone’s taste. In my opinion, Blake and Ceelo have the best teams with two of the four contestants I had noted in my previous Voice post still in the running. One new person of interest that captured my attention was Cole, who really had a moment when he performed a great rendition of the Passenger song “Let Her Go” during his knockout round on Ceelo’s team and whom Blake was able to steal right out from under Adam. Despite his betrayal, I’m still Team Blake all the way, but I get the feeling that this just might be Ceelo’s year, and that he’ll have at least two contestants (Jonny and Caroline) which might go all the way. Nonetheless, as previous seasons have proven, song choice is crucial and America is fickle so a dark horse could sneak in, take home the win, and ride off into oblivion.

I’m still firmly hooked on The Blacklist, and though the last couple of episodes haven’t had quite the same oomph as the first four, I am geeking out about the fact that none other than House’s Wilson aka Robert Sean Leonard will be appearing as a mad scientist responsible for a chemical attack on next Monday’s episode entitled “Frederick Barnes” (picture above). While we’ve seemingly made some progress on the subplot surrounding Liz’s husband Tom, with Russian spy Gina Zanetakos corroborating his claims of innocence (a story which I just don’t buy), we are still no closer to solving the enigma which is Red. I’m hoping 1) that the stories surrounding the blacklist targets get a little stronger (ala The Stewmaker; still gives me the heebie-jeebies thinking about him) and 2) that we start to do more than scratch the surface of the whole Red/Liz dynamic (still think he’s her dad). I loved the fact that Liz turned to him when worrying about Tom. The entire hand-holding scene with Red was such an awww moment.

I’ve been making Once Upon a Time my Sunday afternoon, no good football games on TV, viewing material and as of last Sunday I’m fully caught up with all the episodes in Season 3. While the season started slow in my estimation, I’m enjoying some of the latest developments...(SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED ALL THE EPISODES STOP READING NOW) ...


including Hook and Emma’s smooch (all for it; not into Baelfire/Neal) and the fact that Regina just might have a Prince Charming of her own out there waiting for her in the form of none other than Mr. Robin Hood. The Mulan loves Aurora reveal seems like a desperate bid for attention, but hey, it keeps things interesting. Lastly, I don’t know if it’s just me, but the whole Neverland and Peter Pan storyline is starting to wear thin, so I’m really hoping they don’t drag this out for the entirety of the season.