Twelve-year-old Levi’s family is fractured when his mom dies unexpectedly. To escape painful memories, his dad moves their family from the Detroit suburbs to a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. There, Dad dives into work, leaving avid rock climber Levi stuck at home with his spy-code-obsessed brother Zack. When Zack tells Levi it’s like Mom went to the moon and never came back, a baffled Levi promises to take his autistic brother closer to the moon to say goodbye. Over the summer, Levi learns that facing his fears might just be what provides his family the closure they desperately need.

Winner of the 2024 Fictionary Book of the Year Award, Decoding the Moon explores how one family navigates loss with love, determination, hope, and just the right amount of grit.