The last thing Letty wants to do is go into the rest home when her Grampa lives, with her Nan. It’s hard for Letty to see Grampa now as his dementia has taken over, and he doesn’t even recognise her anymore. He spills his food, knocks things over and rarely says a word. This is not the Grampa that Letty knows and loves and who she used to spend a lot of fun times with.

Nan is patient and firm however, and Letty visits grudgingly. She can’t wait until her parents return from their work trip and rescue her. On a phone call to her dad he suggests looking for a hidden box of treasures in the room she’s sleeping in, which was Gramps’ room when he was a boy.

When she finds the box it has a jumble of marbles, paper clippings and an old football jersey. This discovery launches Letty back in time to 1969, when Gramps is a boy her age, and the world is excited about the very first moon landing. Gramps is called Moonboy by everyone as he is fascinated by the upcoming event.

Being able to move between times also allows Letty to break through Gramps’ dementia and reconnect with her grandfather, all while making a new friend, learning about the moon landing and its trials and tribulations along the way.

Not all runs smoothly however, as Letty realises the possible flow on effects of everything she does back in 1969.

This story would make a great fiction resource for any middle grade study of the 1969 moon landing as it shows the excitement of the landing itself and also things that didn’t go quite as planned.

Time travel is a personal favourite, and travelling back to 1969 was fun. The background for this time was taken from interviews with family members with their memories providing all the interesting details of living in a Milk Bar (Dairy).

In the rear of the book are more interesting facts about the moon landing, given young readers even more information to use in projects or enjoy for their own interests. 

My favourite theme in the book is the intergenerational relationship between Letty and her grandfather, and how she broke through his dementia with items from his childhood.

Author / Illustrator – Anna Cidor

Age – 7+

(2025, Allen & Unwin, Time travel, Family, Grief, Adventure, Love, Secret, Grandfather, Grampa, Rest home care, Dementia, Connections, Friendships, Grandparents, Time jump, Moon landing, 1969, Memories, Memory, Historical)