Hoppity-Gap

This is an unusual story with more meat to it than many around at the moment. It concerns the daughter of a television entertainer who travels round with him when he does personal appearances. She's lonely and has created an invisible friend; with him she follows a three-legged dog on to some waste ground where a gang of children have their headquarters. Ellie has to come to terms with her own loneliness and the gang leader (a girl) also has to discover some truths about herself. It's not a simple story and it's not told in an obvious way, so it demands a fair amount of sophistication in the reader. For over nines, I think, or for an adult to read aloud.