A stellar novel about space, starting over and the best friend you could ever imagine.

Ralph sat up. His voice was croaky. ‘If a shooting star past right now, what would you wish for?’

‘To find another friend like you.’

Leo and Ralph have been best friends ever since Ralph flew down from one of Jupiter’s moons. But now that Leo’s older, his mum and dad think it’s time to say goodbye to Ralph. When the family moves to a small town in the country, they hope Leo might finally make a real friend. But someone like Ralph is hard to leave behind…

Leo and Ralph is a children’s middle-grade story about a young boy, Leo, who feels like he doesn’t fit into normal society and finds it hard to make friends, real-life friends, that is, as Ralph is his very best friend, although he also happens to be imaginary.

When Leo’s family move from the city to a small town, his family hope that by moving, he will leave his imaginary friend behind and find real friends, just like his little sister. However, Leo only wants to chat, read, play, etc., about one subject: Space. He loves space and knows everything about it.

Then, one day, a new imaginary friend arrives, and Leo names him Ralph too.

Leo and Ralph is an adorable book. I loved Leo, and whilst he wasn’t labelled in the book, I did wonder if he was on the spectrum, given that he had many of the characteristics that my autistic son showed when he was at primary school, including the obsession with one subject.

I also felt sorry for Leo, always being told to try to make real friends and always being compared to his younger, more sociable sister.

The pace of the book is spot on, never too fast or too slow. There is plenty of humour within the pages, and young readers will also learn a thing or two about space thanks to Leo.

Overall, this is a story of acceptance, understanding, and growing up. It is told over a number of years, and it was beautiful to watch Leo change over time with the help of Ralph, who gave him the courage to face each day and just be himself.