IF TRIANGLES EXIST WHY NOT HENRY? — Kevin Johnson

The writer brings each of the characters to life so much, it leaves you missing them at the end. This is the story of a boy, a ghost, and a girl.The boy, David, has an imaginary friend called Henry. David's mother was happy for him to have an imaginary friend when was very young but as he grew older she became more and more concerned about him. Is Henry an imaginary friend, or a ghost, or is David hearing voices?David has exceptionally good academic skills and exceptionally bad social skills. David was bullied when he first started school. Henry lived in the next street to David but a century earlier. Henry fought in the First World War.As for the girl, there is always more than one girl in any story. I was hooked pretty early on... The tale contains humour, kindness and sadness in equal measure.Set in a post-industrial town in the North of England that describes the experience of two young men born a hundred years apart. Henry joined the King's Royal Rifles at the age of 19 and saw service in India until the war broke out in 1914. He arrived in Belgium on Christmas Eve and saw action in the Second Battle of Ypres. David lost his father in a road accident as a baby, was bullied at school but his experience of life was much more comfortable than his friend Henry. He always felt better about life after talking with Henry. David could talk to Henry about being bullied, about his girlfriend, about the problems of growing up in the modern world. Henry could tell David about the death of his best friend in a communication trench, about officers leading his platoon into an ambush. David had very few friends apart from Henry. Having an imaginary friend is a comfort to a young child but if the imaginary friend becomes real - is it a ghost you are talking to or are you suffering a mental illness?