The Fantastical Adventures of the Invisible Boy - Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Alexander's The Fantastical Adventures of the Invisible Boy (known in the US as The Gawgon and the Boy - a much more interesting title, to my mind !) is a funny, touching, moving and serious book all at once. It is a fictionalised account of Alexander at the age of 11.

11 year old David nearly dies of pneumonia, (or "New Monia" as his Aunt Rosie calls it), but he survives and he discovers that all the bed rest is worth it if it means he can escape the dreaded Rittenhouse Academy and continue to move amongst the gallery of eccentric friends and relatives that passes through his family's Philadelphia home. David (also known as "Bax", "Snicklefritz", "Skeezix", "First Sergeant" or "Skinamalink", depending on which adult is addressing him) decides that he is quite happy to while away his days with fresh air and a little "mild exercise", as prescribed by Dr. McKelvie (who, incidentally, calls David "laddie-buck"). Unfortunately, the mild exercise includes more than just lounging around reading books about pirates and writing clever stories about "the Sea-Fox" ("that devilishly devious scourge of the Spanish Main"); and when he and a friend are caught sneaking into the cinema to see one of the new "Talkies", his parents decide he must have a tutor (or a "tooter" as Aunt Rosie says, to keep him from becoming "an ignoramiss"). David believes it may be a far worse fate than he imagined, maybe even worse than Rittenhouse Academy, when he learns that his elderly Aunt Annie has volunteered for the job. "In a tone that made me think of the Almighty commanding Abraham to sacrifice young Isaac, she said: 'Give me the boy.'" (p. 38) However, it turns out that this horrible old Gorgon (Aunt Rosie's word "Gawgon" gives the book half of its American title) is the perfect foil for David. Annie is an ingenious mentor who so impresses David (whom she simply calls "The Boy" after he lets slip about her nickname) that she begins to co-star in his time-hopping, globe-trotting adventure stories. She teaches him to enjoy learning and he repays her by learning far more than he realises... This is a fabulous book and if you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it.