The New York Times Book Review - Renee Dale
…wildly entertaining…Throughout, there are charming illustrations, as well as footnotes defining words of Irish and adolescent origin: craic (fun), gombeen (buffoon) and a gem I've put into rotation: shifting—Irish for French kissing. If you miss out on straight-up craic like this, you're a gombeen of the highest order.
From the Publisher
Clever premise . . . This story should keep its target audience of pre-pubescent boys giggling.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The wacky doodles and preteen humor (think fart jokes) makes this an entertaining read for the middle-grade boy set.” —Booklist
School Library Journal - Audio
10/01/2015
Gr 4–7—In this novel, based on an acclaimed Irish television show, Martin Moone is an 11-year-old boy with three overbearing older sisters, parents who largely ignore him, and school bullies who regularly torment him. When he decides to apply for an Imaginary Friend (IF), seeking a supportive "wingman," he gets hilarious results. Martin ends up with two competing IFs—obnoxious Loopy Lou and lazy Sean Murphy—and must find a resolution. The audiobook is narrated by the authors with voices that are expressive and distinct. In particular, the over-the-top, needy personality of IF Loopy Lou is perfectly captured. Although the charming illustrations present in the book (Feiwel & Friends, 2015) are missed, the recording makes up for it with its abundance of auditory gifts, especially the raucous voices and singing. The authors' rendering of the footnotes (which explain the meanings of Irish words in comical ways) is amusing but can be distracting. VERDICT Give this to "Wimpy Kid"' fans; tweens will love it.—Julie Paladino, formerly of East Chapel Hill High School, NC
Kirkus Review
2015-01-20
Martin Moone, a dimwitted 11-year-old Irish boy with three difficult older sisters, decides to take on an imaginary friend, or IF.As Martin, a sad-sack lad who is bully bait for the mean Bonner brothers, learns, procuring an imaginary friend is not for the faint of heart. His first IF is a failure, an annoyingly jokey, balloon-animal-making fellow named Loopy Lou, who turns out to be needy and exceptionally hard to fire. In this effort, Martin is assisted by a lazy, bearded, customer-service representative for the Corporate League of Imaginary Friends Federation, who later succeeds to the position of imaginary friend. The other story thread concerns Martin's efforts to combat the Bonner brothers by enlisting an older tough, who agrees to help in exchange for a feel of Martin's sister's boobs, which turns out to be challenging for our idiot hero to arrange. Based on an original Hulu series starring author O'Dowd, the book has an amusing tone; although it sometimes strains for the joke, it is intermittently funny—even very funny in spots. But despite its clever premise, enhanced by Giampaglia's witty illustrations, it could use a good sharp clipping, as it's repetitious and bloated with unnecessary exposition and explanation. This story should keep its target audience of pre-pubescent boys giggling but is unlikely to find fans outside of this demographic. (Fiction. 8-12)
