6-year old Aoife has had a very rough day. On a trip to the mall to buy new shoes, her mom stopped their car outside the mall and started crying and yelling loudly enough that she was brought to a special hospital. Aoife knows her mom’s been having some difficulty – even at 6, Aoife knows most moms do not talk to their dead sons. Now Aoife is being taken care of by her Uncle Donny. It feels like it is now up to her to solve the mystery of how her brother came to be dead, because maybe that will bring her mother back home. When she enlists her imaginary friend, Teddy, and her next door neighbor/best friend to solve this mystery, things get all the more complicated.
I was hoping for more from this story. Relaying the story from the perspective of the 6-year old with her imaginary friend was a clever move. However, from the outset, there was minimal description of the characters themselves, and because I couldn’t picture them, I found it hard to connect to them. I did feel for Aoife – her relationship with her mother was endearing and I felt compassion for her mother and her mother’s circumstances. But the other characters, such as the uncle, the mother’s boyfriend, and Aoife’s best friend, were all obtuse and unidimensional. Similarly, because the voice was continuously from Aoife, the plot felt simplistic and even the twists were blandly delivered.
I think the idea was creative, but ultimately I was not impressed by the execution. I’d be curious to hear what others think…!
kindread spirits 