Make Me Real, Hardcover/Dare Wright

The sun was shining, summer was beginning, and a young girl named Brett was wishing. She stood alone on the end of a dock and wished for a friend to share the summer with her. That night, Brett's mother brought her a little doll she had found in an old trunk, but Brett was not very interested. She wanted a real, live friend. Then she heard a small voice ask, "You mean you don't want me? My name is Persis. You have to keep me. If I belong to you, I can be real, and we can be friends." That is exactly what happened, and the two of them had a summer of adventures climbing trees, rowing a boat down the creek, and going on bike rides together. They even caught a fish that was bigger than Persis. Brett's mother never discovered that Persis and Brett could talk with each other. Persis was just a doll to everyone except her own little girl who could make her real.