The Imaginary is the story of Amanda and her imaginary friend, Rudger. When Amanda is hurt in a bizarre accident and rushed to hospital, Rudger is left behind, and begins to worry what will become of him. He learns that there are lots of "imaginaries" like him, and that a great number of them reside in the town's public library, where they are looking for the next person who could be their new "friend". Rudger doesn't want a new friend..., he just wants to find his way back to Amanda. This proves to be more difficult than Rudger imagines, especially because of the evil Mr. Bunting -- a bizarre man who hunts down Imaginaries-- and is hunting for Rudger! This clever book was written by A.F. Harrold, a British writer. The book definitely has a British flair to it, with some spellings and terms being particular to British English. A.F. Harrold's writing is filled with little bits of word play and humor that pop up in most unexpected places throughout the text, and with an eerie creepiness often associated with dolls, stuffed animals, and other imaginary things!