Aidan versus the Ocean by Dannika Patterson, illustrated by Heidi Cooper Smith

Title: Aidan versus the Ocean

Author: Dannika Patterson, illustrated by Heidi Cooper Smith

Genre: Contemporary

Publisher: Wombat Books

Published: 1^st August 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 130

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: All Aidan thought he’d have to survive during the summer school holidays was yet another game of Fortnite with his mates. But his plans are suddenly swept out to sea after one teeny-tiny, bad decision leads to a whole bunch more. Now he’s forced to play a real-life game of survival off the wild West Australian coast.

With his Border Collie Barney by his side, will Aidan’s courage, humour and grit, along with inspiration from a few celebrities, be enough to see him safely home?

~*~

Aidan and his dad are busy helping Grandpa get ready to move into a retirement home, and there’s so much to do. So when they come across a kayak that Grandpa fixed for a friend, Aidan volunteers to deliver it. Yet one decision changes things. Instead of heading straight to Jack’s place, Aidan decides to take it out into the ocean.

He’s sure he’ll be back before the storm hits the West Australian coast. It looks nothing like a storm is coming, so how can he be in any danger? Soon, Aidan realises that one mistake will change things, and snowballs into many bad decisions. What follows is a survival story set over a few days as he grapples with trying to get hoke and getting through the time with his dog.

Throughout the book, Aidan keeps thinking of what his favourite survival influencers would do, and what characters he has seen in movies and TV shows do. He’s alone. With a survival kit, and it’s all up to him!

So, what is he going to do? Does anyone know he is missing and who has raised the alarm? Like with any survival story, he needs to work things out, and keeps seeing things, keeps hoping and has no idea that anyone is looking for him.

At times, he struggles to find what he needs, and everything is quite condensed for a tween readership who want something interesting, but not too long, because there is a place for books of all lengths and all stories.

There must be something happening in publishing because I have read at least three survival-based books for middle grade, tween and young adult readers lately. Each one has had differences, but the main point has been kids isolated somewhere in nature, without any technology, and no way of contacting the world.

Just sheer bravery, determination and working with whatever you have at hand. It’s an interesting genre and theme to have at this time, because it takes readers away from a technological reliant world, and shows how people survive and work things out without an easy solution at hand.

This one is also about the consequences of decisions, and how this impacts what happens. One bad decision can change everything, as Aidan learns. It’s what we do with the consequences and outcomes of those decisions that shapes us and shapes what happens. It’s probably something that has been present in literature for a very long time. It’s merely that it feels more obvious in some stories than others.

The focus on Aidan in this book shapes the narrative and highlights the cheekiness of some boys, and the impulsivity of young people. It also shows how people learn to cope in adversity, and how some people tackle challenges thrown at them. It’s fun and tween and older readers should enjoy this, especially if they like adventure and survival stories that are relatable and contemporary.

Aidan versus the Ocean is a great book that I think readers aged ten and over will enjoy.