5^th Grade and Up

Aidan disappeared for six days. Six agonizing days of searches and police and questions and constant vigils. Then, just as suddenly as he vanished, Aidan reappears. Where has he been? The story he tells is simply . . . impossible. But it’s the story Aidan is sticking to.
His brother, Lucas, wants to believe him. But Lucas is aware of what other people, including their parents, are saying: that Aidan is making it all up to disguise the fact that he ran away.
When the kids in school hear Aidan’s story, they taunt him. But still, Aidan clings to his story. And as he becomes more of an outcast, Lucas becomes more and more concerned. Being on Aidan’s side would mean believing in the impossible. But how can you believe in the impossible when everything and everybody is telling you not to?

I read this story for the sole purpose of wanting to know where Aidan disappeared to. I was expecting alien abduction. It all fits, doesn’t it? Vanished for six days, no one can find him, mysteriously reappears, an impossible story that no one believes. But I was wrong.  Turns out it’s about a familiar fantasy storyline told from a different perspective.

I’m not going to give away the big reveal. But if you do read this book, and if you’re an avid reader like me, you might be able to guess what happened to Aidan before it’s said outright. Think about it. Where is a place a person could disappear to, where no one can find them, that no one would believe, and doesn’t involve an alien abduction or a kidnapping? Hint: it’s the premise of many fantasy novels.

The first few chapters build the suspense of Aidan’s disappearance. The rest of the story is about Aiden transitioning back into everyday life. Everyone pushes him to tell the truth about where he has been and why he left. Everybody feels like they are owed an explanation. The problem with the truth is that even when you tell people the truth, it’s not always the kind of truth they want to hear.

What makes this story stand out from others is that it is told from Lucas’s perspective and not Aidan’s. If the story had been told from Aidan’s perspective, we, the readers, would know exactly what happened, and it would be like all the other stories. It is the outside perspective, the air of mystery, that sliver of doubt that makes you question what is and isn’t true, is what makes this story so great.