DEAR MR. HENSHAW meets DEAD END IN NORVELT in this sharply humorous and nostalgic epistolary middle grade debut from Matthew Dicks, about navigating life's challenges and finding your place in the world.

Eleven-year-old Jack Mandeville's life is complicated. Between dealing with his parents' divorce and new (annoying) stepdad, and looking after his siblings, a lot's been changing as he heads into a new school year.

When Jack gets a school assignment to send letters to an astronaut, he realizes that he’s writing to someone who's not weighed down by the same kind of earthly troubles. But as the year goes on and he keeps writing the letters, he discovers that perhaps 'complicated' isn't such a bad thing. Maybe, it's what makes us all human.

Beloved Moth storyteller Matthew Dicks makes his middle grade debut with this funny and heartfelt epistolary novel following a spectacular year in the life of an eleven-year-old growing up in the 1980s.