Parents' Guide to

Imaginary Enemy

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Main character is hard to like in disjointed tale.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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Kids say (5 ):

There are two glaring flaws here; the first is that the main character, Jane, simply isn't very likable. Often books about kids who seem to be brats on the outside make them likable by letting readers see them from the inside. But Jane isn't very likable inside either. She's not horrible -- she's just the kind of person you'd rather not spend much time with.

The second is that this is not a story. It's a fairly disjointed series of vignettes that don't really lead anywhere, and are only loosely held together by the gimmick of the imaginary enemy, which doesn't seem to have any real purpose other than to show another unpleasant side of Jane. Between these two flaws, there's not really much to draw readers in and keep them reading.

Book Details

  • Author: Julie Gonzalez
  • Genre: Family Life
  • Book type: Fiction
  • Publisher: Delacorte Press
  • Publication date: March 23, 2008
  • Publisher's recommended age(s): 12 - 12
  • Number of pages: 241
  • Last updated: July 12, 2017

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