Aidan S. mysteriously disappears from his home. Police, townspeople, teachers, friends and family search everywhere, but he’s gone without a trace. Six days later, Aidan’s brother Lucas hears something in the attic. When he investigates, he discovers Aidan on the floor, wardrobe open behind him. When Lucas asks him where he’s been, Aidan only replies “Aveinieu”.

The Plot & Magical Realism
David Levithan says in his forward that this work was at least in part inspired by Rebecca Stead’s 2009 novel When You Reach Me, a book that also blends a realistic story with fantastic or magical elements. In this book (Levithan’s first book written for middle schoolers) the idea that Aidan climbed through a wardrobe into another world is a little bit Chronicles of Narnia and a little bit a story about a missing kid and how that affected the real world around him. I just wish it was more of either one or the other. I found myself desperately wanting to know more about the mystical world of Aveinieu, but we only get snippets from Aidan. No significant part of the plot is spent telling the readers what happened there, or developing any characters that he met there.

My biggest issue with the lack of detailed storyline about Aveinieu is that this is what could really sell the book to middle school readers. Without it, the book won’t hook Fantasy readers, and the plot is too slow in parts to hook the Realistic Fiction readers.

Character Review
Okay, so now that you all know that Aidan’s magical vacation wasn’t detailed enough for me, here are some thoughts on the characters. I’ve read Levithan before. I usually like his YA stuff. The characters work for me; they’re diverse, and their dialogue sounds like a teenager (or at least the way a teenager would want themselves to sound). The problem is that these middle school characters sound a lot like Levithan’s YA characters, and there is a big difference. This book read to me like it should have been a YA novel with YA characters, and Levithan just struggled to fit a square peg into a round hole. He wanted to write a Middle Grade book, but I just don’t think it’s going to work well for actual Middle Graders. I think it could be a hard sell for my collection.

I did like Aunt Brandi. It’s not super common in Middle Grade fiction to see a transgender character who’s whole development doesn’t revolve around them being transgender. I found it refreshing.

So why a 3 star review?
Now that I’m done complaining, let me tell you why I still give this book 3 stars. Even though I think this will be a hard sell to middle schoolers, even though I think this would be a better YA novel with some tweaking than a Middle Grade story, and even though Levithan did not provide enough detail about Avienlieu to make me happy…I did read it in a day. I literally flew through this book. And as an adult reader, it worked for me. I think it’s well written. The story was compelling. I just don’t think it will have the same affect on the audience it was intended for.

ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Lucas's brother Aidan disappeared for six days. During that time, the entire town helped look, and the boys' parents (and Lucas) were understandably very upset. Then, just as suddenly, Aidan shows up in the family's attic, a bit dirty and still in his pajamas, but fine. Of course, the police question him and his family repeatedly, and only one story is clear: Aidan traveled into a magical alternate reality, Aveinieu, and only left because it wasn't safe for him to stay. He was befriended by Cordelia, who had been in the world so long that everyone she knew in our realm was dead, and she sort of wished she could have returned earlier. There are not a lot of details about the place, although clearly Aidan loved it there and longs to return. There is a lot of concern and curiosity about the incident, but the boys both want to get back to "normal". When they go back to school, someone on the police force leaks the details of Aidan's description of what happened, and kids at school start taunting him about his time with the "unicorns". Lucas feels sorry for Aidan, and tries to help him process what happened and his feelings about it at night before they go to sleep. The parents are also supportive, but a bit unsure what the best way forward is. Lucas at first tells his brother to say he was loopy when first interviewed and the details are due to hallucinations, then tells him to lie and say that he ran away to a gaming convention but didn't want to get into trouble. He tells this lie to the police, who don't believe him, and say that the story about Aveinieu was more convincing. The police are very understanding, and since no one kidnapped Aidan and he wasn't injured in any way, the most important thing is that going forward, he seek help and not run away. Aidan eventually gains some peace over being away from the idyllic world, and moves on, getting involved in activities and getting a boyfriend. Lucas still wants to understand what happened to his brother, and has a brief glimpse of the world in the attic.
Strengths: Children going missing is absolutely terrifying, so the exploration of how one family (and their town) deals with this is interesting. Lucas clearly loves his brother, and the parents and police are very understanding and helpful. Aunt Brandi is briefly described as having been the mother's younger brother growing up, but had long since begun living "as her true female self". It's good to see a transgender character described with correct terms, and be included in a story that was not about her gender identity. The story is a good length, and the pacing and character development is well suited to middle grade. I felt like this disappearance and Aidan's subsequent longing was a metaphor for a larger philosophical issue, but couldn't quite pin it down. I can see this being a "heartprint" book that teachers will use for class discussions.
Weaknesses: This was very slow moving, and aside from a few descriptions of Aveinieu, wasn't really a fantasy novel. I wished that most of the book would have concentrated on Aidan's experiences in the alternate world instead of covering the aftermath of his disappearance.
What I really think: The author cites Stead's When You Reach Me as a well done novel evocative of classic tales of magical realism, and set out to create something similar with this book. I can see this being popular with fans of Snyder's Orphan Island or Spinelli's Hokey Pokey. When You Reach Me only circulates well with students who had a teacher who was passionate about the title and perhaps read it to their class in elementary school, so I will probably pass on purchasing.

I enjoyed this story and I think my students will as well. It reminded me of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, but with it's own uniqueness. Choosing to tell the story from the perspective of the brother was wise for this story. It allowed the reader to determine the reliability of the story that Aiden told from a more objective point of view. If Aiden was telling the story, readers would likely believe that he was lying about where he disappeared to. A quick, fun read!

3 stars

I was instantly drawn in by the description and the author and could not wait to learn more about the mystery of Aidan S's disappearance.

While the ending - and Lucas in general - are sweet, so much time is spent on one thing: convincing folks that Aidan S. was where Aidan S. says he was. Seriously. It's almost the whole book. And there isn't really much variety in this. Aidan S. says he was in a specific place, folks struggle to believe him, and the pattern is repeated and repeated and repeated.

This is a cool concept, but I was hoping for and expecting much more than this.

#TheMysteriousDisappearanceofAidanSastoldtohisbrother #NetGalley
Thanks to Net Galley for the advance reading copy of The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan.

2.5 stars
In a letter to readers Levithan says that this novel, his first for middle grade readers, is an amalgamation of many books and authors that have influenced his literary life. “That’s what I hope I’ve done here, taking a lot of stories I love, mixing them into a mystery, and giving them back in a new way.”

Twelve year old Aidan disappears one evening. When his eleven year old brother Lucas awakes the next morning, he’s immediately alarmed to find that his brother is not in his bed. A household search is conducted, the police are called, and searches are organized. Detectives question Lucas. But no trace, no clue, is left behind. Lucas feels lost too. How could his brother disappear and he not know anything at all? They’re close. They share the same room. They’re only a year apart. But Lucas is as perplexed and mystified as his parents and the police. Six days later, just as things are beginning to feel more frantic and less hopeful, Aidan reappears as mysteriously as he disappeared. Lucas hears a noise from the attic and rushes up to find a dazed and disoriented Aidan face down on the attic floor, looking disheveled. Aidan is dazed and confused. And his explanation for where he’s been? It’s not what anyone expects. Lucas alone gets the whole story. The Aidan who returns is different than the Aidan from before. What ensues is Aidan’s reluctant re-entry into the world as he navigates the demands of his family, friends, paparazzi, and schoolmates all of whom demand to know what really happened.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. is a sweet homage to brotherly bonds. In some ways, it is like The Body by Stephen King. It’s more novella than novel. It has a nostalgic sense of time and place and features a seminal moment coming of age that indelibly marks the protagonists. There’s not much action but it is a tender story of two brothers seeing one another more clearly.

As a middle grade novel, this novel does not hit its target. Aidan and Lucas are young, middle schoolers, but they don’t sound like middle schoolers. The dialogue is clunky and outdated. Their vocabulary is much too sophisticated and, perhaps, not contemporary. It’s entirely possible that adult Lucas is the narrator, reminiscing about the past, but if so, I’d like for that to be more firmly suggested in establishing the setting. Some incongruous details like home phones and pay phones could be better explained if the story is set back a couple of decades but I found them very distracting. The adults in the story are very chill and super helpful, as if they were scripted right out of a self help guide. I found their prosaic lectures and platitudes oftentimes more patronizing than comforting. And not 100% authentic. I also found Aidan’s post disappearance transformation not entirely convincing. It’s like he went in as Cartman and came out as Gandhi. My rating reflects my belief that my middle school readers will not readily gravitate to this one.

Lucas, 11, has a typical relationship with his brother Aidan, 12. They annoy each other, they love each other, and can't imagine life without each other. Until Aidan disappears one day. Six days later he returns in the middle of the night, without a believable explanation. Their parents, the police, the neighborhood, everyone wants to know what happened to Aidan. Aidan tells Lucas and the police about this fantasy land he discovered, but no one wants this wild answer and instead thinks that he must have been kidnapped, there must be an earthly explanation about what happened. Aidan knows what really happened, and he slowly lets Lucas into the mythical world he found inside the old dresser in the attic. With great characters, excellent pacing, short but impactful chapters, this is sure to be a great middle school novel. Recommended for reluctant readers who have heard the story of Narnia, but find Lewis to be just to weighted to read.