An interesting mystery for middle graders. I love that Aidan and his brother end up forming a stronger relationship after Aidan returns and that Lucas decides that going through the cupboard wouldn't solve any of his problems. ( )

Aidan and Lucas' story is interesting, and I definitely wanted to keep reading to find out what happened, but I was disappointed at the flatness of the characters and their world. Aidan seemed strangely unattached to his family. The characters and plot seemed like a sketch of a cool idea that never really came to life. ( )

Well developed characters are astutely portrayed with a deep understanding of emotional development and expression within families and communities under pressure. How do different people and groups of people react when a boy disappears for 6 days and returns with a fantastical story of where he's been? Whether his story is true or not, was less interesting to me than how everyone behaved. Couldn't put this one down. ( )

Lucas, his parents, and their whole town search frantically for Lucas' older brother Aidan, who seems to have disappeared into thin air. Six days later, when police have stopped talking about finding Aidan and started talking about finding his body, Aidan reappears, apparently unharmed, in the family's attic. Lucas discovers him there and calls down to their parents, but no one is satisfied with Aidan's explanation for where he was: another world called Aveinieu. Time passed differently there; for Aidan, it was about a month. And he didn't choose to come back - he was banished.

Aidan quickly realizes that people don't, won't, or can't believe him when he talks about Aveinieu, so he stops - except, sometimes, to Lucas, in their room at night. Lucas is afraid that if the portal to Aveinieu reopens, Aidan will go back; but when it does, it's Lucas who is standing in the attic, and his decision makes the perfect ending to the book.

Oddly, the flap copy calls the main character Liam, not Lucas.

Quotes

Did I believe him at that moment?
Yes. But the same way I'd believe the author of a fantasy novel I was reading. If the book is good enough, you feel like everything is true. But that doesn't mean it isn't also entirely made up. (40)

It struck me right then that the word story might be too big for us. Because the same word could be used for something that had happened and something that was completely made up....It was tricky, the way it could mean both things. (76)

"It stretches credibility - but life stretches credibility all the time, to the point that credibility doesn't have much credibility left, you know?" (101)

"Burying something doesn't take away the weight of it. It only pushes the weight deeper and makes it harder to carry around." (101)

The way to get Aidan to appreciate you was to listen to what he had to say. (138)

Don't they remember the whole point of the boy who cried wolf is that in the end he was TELLING THE TRUTH? (147) ( )