Poppy and Dingan

Pobby and Dingan live in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, the opal capital of Australia. They are friends with Kellyanne Williamson, the daughter of an opal miner, but only Kellyanne can see them. Pobby and Dingan are imaginary.
Ashmol Williamson, Kellyanne's brother, thinks his sister should grow up and stop being such a fruit loop. Until the day, that is, when Pobby and Dingan disappear--the same day that Ashmol and Kellyanne's father is accused of "ratting" (poaching on someone else's land), the worst sin an opal miner can commit.
As Kellyanne--grief-stricken and suddenly, mysteriously, ill--begins to fade away, Ashmol recruits the whole town in a search for Pobby and Dingan. In the end, however, he discovers that only he can find them, and that he can only find them if he too believes they are real.
Funny, deeply moving and told without a wasted word, Pobby and Dingan--the debut of a prodigiously gifted new writer--is an enchanting story.

Ben Rice lives in London. This is his first book.