Wonders of the Invisible World

Gr 9 Up—Aiden Lockwood is a 17-year-old farm boy drifting through his unremarkable life when Jarrod returns to their small town and long-buried memories begin to surface. Aiden is confused about why he cannot remember details from when he and Jarrod were best friends in middle school. Aiden slowly realizes that buried along with his memories were his unique abilities to see the future, the past, others' dreams, and more sinister visions, such as the moment of death. His mother is also a seer with abilities similar to Aiden's; she seems to know all but tells her son the bare minimum. Aiden's brother and father are blissfully unaware of anything beyond the material world. Through visions, the teen travels through time to see his paternal relatives and learns unsettling things about the Lockwood family history. The more Aiden finds out, the more he wants to know. When tragedy strikes, Aiden become more determined to find answers, so he and Jarrod embark on a journey for the truth to Lily Dale, NY (a famous town of Spiritualists). This story has plenty of appeal and potential and offers a twist on the typical paranormal romance—while a sincere, thoughtful LGBT relationship is important to Aiden's character development, it isn't the central focus of the book. Unfortunately, other key characters are not developed fully. The pacing of the narrative is also slightly off-kilter.