Indie Weekend is my effort to highlight Indie books and help Indie authors, who have to do it all, with marketing. If I can help even a little bit, I’m happy to do it. I would ask all readers of my Indie Weekend posts to please share this far and wide with your social media followers so we can introduce these books to as many people as possible.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
If the delivery had been a demonic bowling alley or a mermaid’s grotto, Ivy would have sent it away. She has standards, after all. But she can’t refuse a magical Library, especially when they’ve gone to the trouble of including a wheelchair ramp. They say that on the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog, but somebody knows fourteen-year-old Ivy is an orphan, that she sells her paper-writing services to lazy college students, and that her imaginary friends are unhappy being stuck in the mural on the wall of her Alaskan home.
Himitsu refuses the Library, becoming angry enough to attack the delivery people with his bamboo sword. They won’t tempt him with books, any more than his mother has been able to tempt him into leaving their apartment during the past two years. He has all he needs: video games, online forums, and his virtual girlfriend Moe. Well, almost all. His dad’s death has left a hole in him, which is why when he receives text messages saying the Library can bring back the dead, he changes his mind. Moe tries to warn him about the danger, but what does she know, anyway?
Now, having been lured into the Library and having foolishly brought their imaginary friends with them, Ivy and Himitsu find those friends are trapped. The teens have a choice: fulfill the Librarian’s odd and painful demands in hopes of rescuing their friends or go back alone to their small, boring lives, knowing they’ve failed the only ones who really believe in them.
BOOK REVIEW
What does one do when a free magical library shows up at your door, ready for installation? Accept it, right? That’s what Ivy does, but Himitsu is not as trusting until the Library tells him it can bring back the dead. Suddenly Ivy and Himitsu find themselves in the library with their imaginary friends, who are trapped and can never leave. They meet another friend, Simon, and slowly all of their stories are told.
What an amazing and creative Young Adult story! Some of the lines in this book just jump out in their genius. “All giraffes are named Janice, excepting a few heretics” caught my attention early in the book as I went on a magical journey of discovery with Ivy, Himitsu, and friends. But I soon learned that although this is about a magic library, it is also so much more. It’s about pain and secrets and forgiveness. It’s about coming to terms with your past. And it’s about reaching out. One of my favorite lines is: “As with nachos, when two people share pain with each other, there always turns out to be less of it than either thought.”
This description of an author long gone took my breath away: “At the end of things, she knew, this form she inhabited would cease to be. She would crawl back into her books of poetry and pressed flowers, her spirit to be let back out only when her words were read out by dreamers and destroyers.”
Imaginary Friends is a beautifully woven tale of life, books, and how they intertwine with each other. I recommend it to everyone. It will not just touch your heart, it will touch your imagination. I feel more creative after having read it.
I received a free copy of this book from Cinnabar Moth Publishing, but I also bought a copy because when I see a talented author with so much genius, I want to support their work.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chad Musick grew up in Utah, California, Washington, Texas, and (most of all) Alaska. He fell in love in California and then moved with his family to Japan, where he’s found happiness. He earned a PhD in Mathematical Science, but loves art and science equally.
Despite a tendency for electronic devices to burst into flame after Chad handles them, he persists in working in various technical and technology-related roles.
Chad makes no secret of being epileptic, autistic, and arthritic, facts that inform how he approaches both science and the arts.
BUY LINKS
BEFORE YOU GO
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Bonnie Reads and Writes 
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