Review: Crenshaw

Just so you know, this does contain spoilers.

There is no other way to say it, I LOVE THIS BOOK! If you have read Katherine Applegate's Newbery Medal winning The One and Only Ivan, then you knew this was going to be a good book when it came out, but this is the first Katherine Applegate book I have read. This book is so creative, fun, and a little sad at the end. One of the things I really love about this book is the personality of the main character. The main character is not someone you would expect to have an imaginary friend; he likes fact a lot more than imagination. It is really interesting to see how the main character reacts when his childhood imaginary friend, Crenshaw comes to visit. Jackson (the main character) is determined to ignore Crenshaw, who is a large black and white cat, and hopes that he will go away. This makes the plot line more interesting, as Jackson realizes, throughout the story, how important Crenshaw really is to him. I cannot fully enjoy a book if the characters do not have much of a personality, but this was not a problem. The characters reached out to me, and I was glad that none of the characters were bland and boring. This is absolutely a must-read.

The basic plot is this: Jackson sees Crenshaw, his imaginary friend, at the beach. He has not seen Crenshaw since he and his family were homeless, which was years ago. Crenshaw appears again, right when it looks like Jackson and his family might become homeless again. Jackson tries to ignore Crenshaw, but realizes that he needs him. While their parents are struggling to pay the rent (even though his mother has 3 jobs and his dad has 2), they try to cheer Jackson and his little sister Robin up by singing and telling jokes. Jackson hears them arguing at night and realizes they aren't telling the truth, which is one thing he can't stand. It looks like he will have to leave his school, his home, and his friends. He will have no one to talk to if they move, which makes him realize how important it can be to have an imaginary friend.

This was an inspiring, interesting, clever, and funny book all at the same time. Being broke is something almost anyone can relate to, but I thought it was amazing how attached Katherine Applegate got me to the characters. It made feel a lot sympathy towards them, when things went wrong. One of my favorite parts of the story was probably when Crenshaw explained the purpose of an imaginary friend and how they were basically waiting until they were needed. I thought that was a really cool and clever touch to the book because it more or less explained what was happening in the book. I will be honest; I cannot find one bad thing to say about this book, other than a little bit of an unsatisfactory ending. The ending (I won't spoil it) leaves you on a bit of a cliff hanger, but it still wraps up the story perfectly. I give this story a five star rating and I really hope that you read it and enjoy it :)