How I Hacked The Moon
by R. A. Dines
Rights Sold
Description
Author(s)
R.A. Dines
Related Titles
| Publisher | Macky Mountain Press |
| Publication | Sep 05, 2025 |
| Format | Paperback/Softback |
| ISBN | 979-8998625312 |
| Pages | 194 |
| Dimensions | 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.49 in |
| Age | 10 - 12 |
| Price | $13.99 |
How I Hacked The Moon
At the first coding academy on the moon, constant surveillance doesn’t stop the smartest misfits from plotting their escape—even if it costs them their freedom.
Life at the Lunar Coding Complex is boring, not that thirteen-year-old Moon Girl cares. She finds comfort in its predictability—her first real friend and her love of AI coding keep her anxiety in check. When a harmless prank with her charismatic bestie attracts the attention of rebel hackers led by Moon Girl’s crush Dovrin, she’s thrilled to join their crew. But as they uncover Big Smile Corp’s dangerous secrets, Moon Girl faces impossible choices: her friendship, her crush, or everyone’s safety. Even if they crack the system, do they want to escape back to Earth? And if they fail, what will the sinister corporation do to silence them?
Fans of The Last Day on Mars and His Dark Materials will enjoy How I Hacked the Moon, a thrilling adventure for pre-teens to adults.
"Moon Girl just turned 13 and is experiencing all that comes with growing up, but she’ll need to add saving her home to that list." -The BookLife Prize by Publishers Weekly
Reviews, Awards & Endorsements
- Plot/Idea: 10 out of 10
- Originality: 10 out of 10
- Prose: 9 out of 10
- Character/Execution: 10 out of 10
- Overall: 9.75 out of 10
Plot/Idea: Big Tech needs more energy than ever, so the solution is building facilities on the moon—and sending children to grow up there, learning how to tend to the server farm. Moon Girl just turned 13 and is experiencing all that comes with growing up, but she’ll need to add saving her home to that list.
Prose: Dines excels at world-building and delving into the adolescent psyche, applying universal experiences to a childhood that plays out on the moon. Explaining some of the world—such the hierarchy of the LCC—upfront would anchor the setting more firmly for readers.
Originality: Children taken at a young age to live on the moon, learning how to tend a server farm for a corporation, is as original as it gets.
Character/Execution: Through Jenny, a.k.a. Moon Girl, readers experience what an adolescent—captive on the moon—hopes, dreams, and cares about. Tensions mount as circumstances become dire for her and her friends.
Semi-finalist in the Books for 9 - 12 year olds category
“A thrilling coming-of-age sci-fi adventure about friendship, rebellion and survival, How I Hacked the Moon follows a brilliant young coder who must uncover corporate secrets and decide how far she's willing to go to save her home. A FINALIST and highly recommended!” Wishing Shelf Book Awards
"Inventive and beautifully written, readers who enjoy middle-grade science fiction will adore this." - Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
"Dines grounds the futuristic setting in real human emotion." -Richard Prause for Readers' Favorite
"A fun and action-packed middle-grade science fiction novel." -Karen Hesson for Readers' Favorite
Author
R.A. Dines
Ever since she first laid her hands on a keyboard, R. A. Dines has been fascinated with the intersection of art and technology. Dines spent the first two decades of her career in big tech and startups and is now in the second chapter of her career as a full-time author and creative. These days, you can find her reading, writing, coding, and 3D printing with her family outside Boston.