What would you do if your best friend was:
     1. Imaginary?
     2. An oversize blue chimp in surfer shorts? (Potentially embarrassing, but hey, no one else can see him . . . right?)
     3. Proposing a plan to help you improve your life?
     4. Did we say imaginary?
     5. Driving you crazy?!?!
Now you have an idea of what Willie Ryan’s life is like when he meets Dodger. It’s the beginning of a lot of trouble—and a friendship you’ll never forget!

Praise

“The humor will draw kids including Dodger’s off-the-wall dialogue and the outlandish predicaments that result when he decides to ‘help.’ The story grows increasingly engaging as Willie starts moving toward what he really wants.”—Booklist

 

“Baseball fans will enjoy this novel.”—School Library Journal

“It is roll on the floor funny with several nice messages tucked in for good measure.”—Brenda Kahn, Librarian, Haworth Public School (NJ)

About the Author(s)

Jordan Sonnenblick

Jordan Sonnenblick is the author of the acclaimed teen novels Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, Notes from the Midnight Driver, and Zen and the Art of Faking It. In addition to being a writer, he’s a middle-school English teacher, and would never penalize one of his students for bringing an imaginary friend to school. His next book, Dodger for President, will be available from Feiwel and Friends in Spring 2009.     Jordan lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with his wife and their two children. If he’s ever had an imaginary friend, he’s not telling! You can visit him on the web at www.jordansonnenblick.com.

Visit Jordan Sonnenblick's Website

Excerpt

Okay, I was unpopular. But was I so amazingly unpopular that I needed a magical blue chimp for a best friend? Quite possibly. “Me? Are you sure you have the right kid?”      “If you’re Willie Ryan, of Seven Lamplighter Lane, I have the right kid. And I have been waiting for you here for, like, a really long time. . . .”     “Why would you wait for me? Why would you want me for a best friend?” As I said this, I couldn’t help wondering, Isn’t there, like, a lonely blue surfer chimp somewhere that needs a

View Entire Excerpt