To the Moon and Back

About the book

A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK | A LITHUB MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025

The astounding and expansive coming-of-age novel about a young woman whose quest to become the first Cherokee astronaut irrevocably alters the fates of the people she loves most.

'Will break your heart and take you to the stars. I loved it.' Kiley Reid, bestselling author of Such a Fun Age

'A breathtaking debut about family, identity, and love across generations.' Reese Witherspoon

'A powerful story about the mixture of combativeness, compromise and love that forms the heart of a family.' Kaliane Bradley, bestselling author of The Ministry of Time

Steph Harper is on the run.

When she was five, her mother ran - with Steph and her younger sister in tow - from an abusive husband into the arms of a small Cherokee community, where she hoped they might finally belong.

But Steph soon sets her sights as far away as she can get, vowing that she will let nothing interfere with her dream to become an astronaut, and ultimately, to go to the moon.

In Steph's certainty that only her ambition can save her, she will stretch her bonds with the three women who know and love her most dearly: her younger sister Kayla, an artist whose determination to appear good takes her life to unexpected places; her college girlfriend Della, who strives to reclaim her identity as an adult after being removed from her family as a young girl through a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act; and her mother Hannah, who has held up her family's history as a beacon of inspiration to her kids, all the while keeping the truth about her own past a secret.

Told through these women's interwoven lives, and spanning three decades and several continents, To the Moon and Back is an astounding and expansive coming-of-age novel of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice, alienation and heartbreak, terror and wonder. At its core, it is the story of the extraordinary lengths one woman will go to find a little space for herself.

Praise for To The Moon and Back
A singular, sonorous, wholehearted novel, one I wanted to devour and savour at once.' Claire Lombardo, bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had

'A brilliant, faceted, warm-hearted novel, with characters to love and truly root for, and pages that seem to turn themselves.' Sarah Thankam Mathews, author of the National Book Award Finalist All This Could Be Different

'A captivating debut about family, queer identity, love, career and heritage. This novel has something for everyone.' De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of In West Mills

'A soaring masterpiece... Every character in this novel will stay with you forever. I love this book.' Casey Plett, author of A Dream of a Woman

'A passionate and compulsively readable novel. Dare I say, a stellar debut.' Margot Livesey, author of The Road to Belhaven