My Invisible Boyfriend

March 22, 2010
This over-the-top but entertaining British import follows 15-year-old Heidi, who has always had an active imagination. When everyone seems to be coupling off at the first party of the new school year, Heidi invents the perfect boy for her—Ed Hartley. But “imaginary boyfriend–construction is harder than it looks.” Heidi perpetuates Ed's existence by creating an online profile for him—he rides motorcycles, he writes poetry—and her friends think he's great, too. Day (Serafina67 *urgently requires life*
) intersperses Heidi's first-person narrative with invented conversations between Heidi and Mycroft Christie, a TV detective, as well as e-mails between “Ed” and Heidi's friends, who have their own quirks. While it's implausible that Heidi's friends would divulge their problems to someone they've never met, Heidi is thus able to learn some of their deepest secrets. And when she begins receiving mysterious e-mails from someone claiming to be “a real boy,” she worries that the gig is up. The sender's identity is predictable, but readers should still be satisfied with the outcome. Ages 13–up.

March 1, 2010
Gr 9 Up-Heidi's parents (affectionately called Mothership and Dad Man) have moved from job to job for years, never allowing Heidi to stay at any school long enough to establish friendships, find the girl's bathroom, or get past what she calls the "Never-ending Era of Pathetic Noobishness." But at Finch, an alternative boarding school, Heidi has made great friends and she's coming back for her second year. Trouble, however, begins at the first dorm party when Heidi is believed to have turned down the "tongue services" of a hot guy, and her friends mistakenly assume she is seeing someone. Not sure how to correct the misconception, Heidi creates an imaginary boyfriend, Ed, using a gingerbread-boy cookie as her inspiration. As imaginary Ed becomes popular with her friends through online chat, a real boy shows interest in her. Heidi is a sassy, likable character who has a knack for assigning imaginative labels to people and situations that are dead-on, although her ongoing fascination and imaginary dialogue with a British TV detective can be distracting. Supporting characters are full of emotion and contagious energy. Readers may figure out who her secret admirer is long before Heidi does, but it's still a fun read sprinkled with a bit of teenage angst."Kelley Siegrist, Farmington Community Library, MI"

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