Since she was a child, Steph Harper has yearned to step foot on the moon. She arrived at the Cherokee Nation when she was five, after her mother fled from her abusive husband. Her mother, Hannah, and sister, Kayla, thrived there. They both take pride in their culture and history. Steph, though, never felt like she belonged—in fact, she wants to get as far away as possible.
At 13, Steph has her life mapped out, optimizing for becoming an astronaut. It’s a nearly impossible dream, but she is single-minded in pursuing it. The first step is space camp, but it’s too expensive. To her annoyance, she ends up attending her mother’s version of “Space-Culture Camp” instead, learning Cherokee words for planets instead of getting to simulate space flight. Her childhood is a continual push and pull as she tries to break free and her mother tries to shield her from the world, especially the anti-Indigenous racism she fears Steph will experience.
Unlike Kayla, Steph doesn’t fit in socially—not that she’s trying very hard. She navigates confusing crushes on girls, including a classmate who kisses her and then ignores her. All the while, she plans her escape, which she finally gets in university.
That’s where we meet Della, Steph’s college girlfriend. We only get a few chapters from her point of view, but they are some of the most compelling. Della’s custody case as a child made the news: she was adopted by white Mormons instead of following the Indian Child Welfare Act law that requires that they first look for a home for her with Indigenous guardians. She’s a household name in Indigenous communities, and as a young adult, she struggles to find her place in the world. She sees her Cherokee biological father only once a year, and she feels torn between her adoptive parents and biological family.
Things get even more complicated for Della when she realizes that she’s queer. She worries for her immortal soul and for her relationship with her parents. Her relationship with Steph is a lifeline, a place where she feels truly seen, but it’s also precarious: Steph is often selfish, putting her ambitions above everything and everyone else. While Steph is the main character, my heart broke for Della, and I felt so invested in her story.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but we follow Steph over decades, and she continues to work towards her goal of being an astronaut. Meanwhile, we also get some glimpses into Kayla’s life, which has unfolded very differently. She has become an Indigenous social media influencer, artist, and activist. Soon, their worlds collide in ways that threaten the already strained relationship between them. We also slowly begin to learn more about Hannah’s past, which she’s been hiding from her daughters.
This is such a heart-wrenching, affective read. It’s about ambition and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for it. It’s about family of all kinds, and how those relationships transform over decades, coming apart and back together. It’s about Indigeneity and finding how to relate to your heritage and where you fit into the story of generations of your family—including how the reality of those ancestors can be more complicated than what you’ve been told about them.
Despite Steph’s determination to be independent, to break free, to transcend the bonds of Earth, this is ultimately a story about finding a place to belong and how your story fits into that. Every character in To the Moon and Back is complex and flawed. While I found much of this quietly heartbreaking, it’s also hopeful.
At the back of this book is an author’s note explaining what’s real and what’s invented. (Generally, Steph’s ancestors’ stories are based on historical fact, but her and her immediate family are fictional.) It also discusses how the author intended to raise questions, not necessarily answer them.
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it delivered. It’s so thoughtful, and I hope it finds the audience it deserves.
