Cal Jr. is a planner. This quirk of his personality aides in his social media exploits, as his no B/S news clips are followed more and more. A Brooklyn native, he loves the throbbing buzz of New York and its endless possibilities, even though he knows exactly where he’s going. He has his eyes on a particular internship, is building his media following and eventually aims to be a successful journalist.

Suddenly Cal’s plans are tipped on their head. His dad, Cal Snr, has just been accepted by NASA for a mission to Mars. They have to leave New York behind to live in Houston Texas, and with it, Cal’s carefully laid plans for his future, and his best friend Deb.

After only hours in Texas, they are swamped by media. Cal Snr isn’t the only one that has become famous. Cal Jnr is deemed an Astrokid and they are all now officially – News. Another family already part of this NASA mission is quickly on hand and to the rescue. Cal meets Leon, his complete opposite. Leon is quiet, and only a loose follower of social media. Despite once being an excellent gymnast heading for the Olympics, he has dropped out realising it wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. Now Leon isn’t sure about anything in his future.

Despite their differences, Cal and Leon begin to get to know each other, all the while as Cal struggles with orders to quit his media feed. Seen to be in conflict with the reality tv show, Starwatch, another of Cal’s hard-worked plans is beginning to crumble. That is, until Starwatch oversteps the mark. Cal can see how manipulative the host and show is, feeding the hungry viewers everything they can get their hands on. He decides to do something about it as NASA’s future Mars Mission is suddenly in jeopardy.

A love story caught up in social media hype, a Mars Mission, NASA politics, with a retro twist. The author never had any books with characters like him when he was growing up, and even though there are lots of queer books out there, he wanted to tell this story about two very different boys, one of which has to learn to accept people as they are and not do what he always does – try to fix them.

Author – Phil Stamper

Age – 15+

(LGBTQ+, NASA, Space, Team, Social Media, Reality TV, Technology, Love, Romance, Gay, Relationships, Control, Spotlight, News, Family, Aspirations, Dreams, Conflict)