Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

Budo tries to be as useful as possible to Max, so he’ll be around as long as possible. And when an imaginary friend is no longer believed in, they go away forever. Although Budo looks after Max as best he can, he knows his time might be short - he talks to other imaginary friends, and knows that most kids stop believing in their imaginary friend long before eight. When he gets confused or scared, he sort of freezes in place and can’t respond. It’s the only place Max feels comfortable besides home, and Max doesn’t really have any friends besides Budo. Gosk, who makes learning fun and doesn’t talk down to him. Max has multiple teachers at school, and his favorite is the kind Mrs. Budo picks up a lot of information by observing, but it’s near-impossible for him to communicate with anyone outside of Max, even when Max needs his help.

Max is the only one who can see or hear Budo, so people often think Max talks to himself. Sometimes he’ll briefly slip away to watch TV or explore the neighborhood, but he’s never away from Max too long. Budo never sleeps, unlike some imaginary friends, instead keeping watch over Max. Max hates any sort of uncomfortable or unfamiliar situation, and so Budo often finds himself coaxing Max through challenges. Max imagined Budo into existence five years ago, and Budo is very protective of his young charge. Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend begins as Max, an eight-year-old boy in special ed classes at his elementary school, copes with the daily challenges of his day with the help of his imaginary friend Budo.

It won the 2014 Dolly Gray Award for Children’s Literature. Exploring themes of disability, obsession, growing up, and fear of death, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend received overwhelmingly positive reviews and is in development as an animated film at 20th Century Fox. However, when a disturbed teacher who believes she’s the only one qualified to care for Max takes action, Budo has to decide between protecting his own existence and helping the boy who is his whole world. Budo protects his friend, but is very worried about the possibility that one day Max will stop believing and he’ll disappear like all the other imaginary friends who belonged to kids Max’s age. He belongs to eight-year-old Max Delaney, a boy with an undiagnosed disorder on the Autism spectrum who has a lot of trouble fitting in at school. The main character is Budo, and he’s five years old, which is very old for imaginary friends. Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is a 2012 young adult novel by American author Matthew Dicks.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks