Critical Response #3-Christina

Christina Ledesma
Advanced Fiction Writing
Professor Barnstone
Critical Response #3
March 10, 2009
Critical Response to The Problem with Imaginary Friends by Kelly Hanken
After reading the story “The Problem with Imaginary Friends” I thought the story line was very interesting. The author did a very good job luring her reader into this imaginary world. I enjoyed this story because it had an eerie twist in the end. I thought the ending was great because the last line “Don’t worry, dear. We can imagine up a new one in the morning” changes the entire story. The reader first believes that the story is about Jonathan and his crazy imaginary friend, but in the last paragraph of the story the author reveals to his reader that Jonathan’s parents are the ones creating this imaginary Son. I think the author has started off this story very well. However, I do think that this is just the beginning of her story and I would like to see a little more detail. For example, now that she has mentioned the parents at the end of the story I am eager to hear about their background and why they have an imaginary son. I think if the author went into more detail about her characters she would make a better connection between her reader and the characters in her story. It would be interesting to see more detail about this imaginary world that she has already started to create for her readers.