Jack's five-year-old sister Annie has always been "special"--a child prodigy with an intellect beyond her years. Now she has an invisible friend and everyone at school thinks she is mad. But it is Jack who suffers from the taunting and bullying and he has enough on his plate trying sort out his feelings for the father who left him when he was just a toddler and who now wants the family to visit him in the States.

Annie's Game is an involving, tender novel which prickles with the hellishness of sibling rivalry amid the emotional chaos of a broken marriage. As Jake--a character so raw with unresolved pain that it cuts the reader like broken glass--struggles with the jealousy and anger he feels towards his little sister, the intelligent introduction of Annie's invisible friend adds an unexpected depth to the story, hinting at further unhappiness which could all too easily lead to disaster.

Touching, perceptive and bubbling with a breathtaking emotional truth, Annie's Game is one of the most memorable children's books you are ever likely to read. (Ages 8 to 11) -- Susan Harrison