This #ownvoices debut about losing and finding family, forging unlikely friendships, and searching for answers to questions bigger than yourself will resonate with fans of Erin Entrada Kelly, Sara Pennypacker, and Rebecca Stead.

The only thing Rosalind Ling Geraghty loves more than watching NASA launches with her dad is building rockets with him. When he’s unexpectedly killed, all Ro has left of him is an unfinished model rocket they had been working on together.

Benjamin “Benji” Burns doesn’t like science, but he can’t get enough of Spacebound, his favorite comic book series. When he finds a sketch that suggests his dad created the comics, he’s thrilled. Too bad his dad walked out on the family years ago and Benji has no way of contacting him.

Though Ro and Benji were only supposed to be science class partners, the unlikely pair become friends: Benji helps Ro finish her rocket, and Ro figures out a way to reunite Benji and his dad. But Benji hesitates, which infuriates Ro. Doesn’t he realize how much Ro wishes she could be in his place?

As the two face bullying, grief, and their own differences, Benji and Ro must try to piece together clues to some of the biggest questions in the universe.