Aidan always hides in the attic. But they already checked there. They looked in every corner, every hiding place and every square inch of the top floor. He wasn’t there. They searched the rest of the house. They searched for any sign of abduction, any sign that he was taken. There was none. They looked outside for footprints but the ground was bare. Friends and neighbors checked all Aidan’s favourite places. They even searched through the woods. They couldn’t find any sign of him.

Six days later, Aidan reappears…. in the attic. His brother Lucas finds him there, face down in his pajamas. His pajamas are ripped but he seems fine except for a stray leaf in his hair. The leaf doesn’t look like any kind of leaf Lucas has seen before. It’s royal blue. When Lucas asks him where he’s been, Aidan can only whisper one word: Aveinieu.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. is a story told after the adventure is over. The children in the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe travel to the magical land of Narnia. But what happened after they returned? Who would have believed their tale? Author David Levithan imagined a story about returning to real life after being transported to a different time and place. When Aiden is asked where he’s been for the last six days, what can he say? The police need answers to close the case. His parents need reassurance that he won’t disappear again. The kids at school want to know why he was gone for so long.

Frustration grows among Aiden’s parents and the police department. They cannot accept this fantastical tale of Aveinieu; it seems more likely that Aiden is playing a cruel prank. Lucas, however, wants to know more about this world and why Aiden chose to stay there instead of at home with their family.

I did hope to learn more about Aveinieu myself but as much as I wanted a chapter about Aiden’s adventure, the book is not about his journey. It is about exploring the consequences of his journey. David Levithan has an easy writing style that kept me hooked even though we never got to learn much about Aveinieu. Because the fantasy part of the story is kept light, I would recommend young readers who normally shy away from fantasy to try tackling The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. You won’t be disappointed.

— Lesley L.