this was fun

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aiden S. (as told to his brother) – David Levithan 

Mystery, children’s literature, fiction. 

Rating 8/10

Aiden disappears and is nowhere to be found. His family speculates a possible kidnapping or that he simply ran away. Liam wants to know where he could have gone. A week later he appears and everyone is in wonder of where he went to. Aiden can’t tell them but they must believe him that he wasn’t kidnapped nor did he run away. 

I found this novel to be rather interesting. I got it mostly because the title seemed rather odd and mysterious. I thoroughly enjoyed this because there was some intense mystery but not too much for a young reader. This is a good introduction to mysteries though. It is excellently written and the plot is so interestingly fun. I enjoyed this and definitely recommend for any young reader to grab off the shelves if they want some fun mystery.

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enjoyed this novel so much

Cemetery Boys – Aiden Thomas

Latinx, magic, day of the dead, ceremonies, transgender, coming of age, culture, science fiction, young adult, fiction. 

Rating 9/10

Yadriel wants to prove he’s a brujo worthy to be a part of the brujos. Despite being transgender, he still tries to convince his family to allow him to prove his worth. As they don’t want to accept his gender he will not stop trying to convince them. One night a spirit left the world and that spirit is their cousin. Defying the rules he goes to find where his cousin went and summons his spirit. Except that wasn’t his spirit but of a fellow high school student that died that year. Yadriel also accidentally summoned a relentless spirit that doesn’t want to leave. Yadriel has to clean up the mess he made and prove to his family his gender. 

This was the most beautifully written young adult novel that I ever had read. I was so sad that this book was short and I had binge read this. This novel speaks so many truths behind the fiction of how some families in society do not accept their child’s gender and the pronouns that they prefer. I loved the ending and found it perfect. Usually there are only novels that have families either shun them or the protagonist is accepting of themselves. Never in between and this book made my heart warm and glow. There was some romance and a lot of science fiction going on. I loved it and I would’ve loved it more if there wasn’t a potential dead love interest. That got me bummed out in the end. Overall, I loved this novel and was so glad to have read it.