Gold Winner (YA Fiction General) 2020 — Moonbeam Children's Book Awards
Quarter-Finalist (MG-YA) 2020 — BookLife Prize

The new boy. The quiet girl. Will they find love during the solar eclipse?

Neb

Starting at a new school senior year sucks. Moving across Oregon to live with my mom after my dad died is worse. But I refuse to miss the total solar eclipse at the end of summer. Dad and I looked forward to it for as long as I can remember, so when my only friend in my new town invites me on a school camping trip to watch it, I'm there.

And only 67% of my wanting to go is because of Sage, the quiet girl on the group text my friend started. She gets my jokes, doesn't mind when I geek out about the eclipse, and for the first time in months, I'm looking forward to something.

Sage

When my controlling ex broke up with me at the end of junior year, I thought my only chance at love was over. But then Neb moved to town and what started as a casual text conversation turned into something that made me believe that maybe I'm not as damaged as I thought.

My self-help-loving best friend is dragging me on "the path of self-healing" — a path that apparently includes camping with twenty classmates to see the solar eclipse. And Neb, the boy I've never seen but whose silly space jokes turn my insides to mush, will be there. But when we finally meet in person, another girl stakes her claim on him. Do I run the other way to save my heart, or risk it all for a chance at happiness with this space boy?

Book one in the Campfire Series, Chasing the Sun, is a lighthearted romance with space puns, Portland shenanigans, and enough feels to totally eclipse your heart.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Gold Winner (YA Fiction General) 2020 — Moonbeam Children's Book Awards
Quarter-Finalist (MG-YA) 2020 — BookLife Prize

"The pair navigate the pitfalls and mysteries of attraction, always wondering if they are compatible and choosing wisely... There is very honest, straightforward writing about anxiety and anxiety attacks, mourning the death of a parent, adjusting to a new school, sexual attraction, inappropriate control in relationships, jokes, stalking, and sexual identity. The writing style is very open and contemporary..." —Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards 2021

"'Chasing the Sun' isn't just about a group of friends going to see the eclipse happen. It's about chasing dreams, chasing truth, chasing love, and chasing self-worth. Melanie Hooyenga has done a wonderful job penning all of this emotion in her latest novel." —YA Book Central

"Chasing the Sun was such a lovely falling-in-love story between two extremely vulnerable teens who were both a little reluctant to do so." —Kevin Craig, author of The Camino Club and Pride Must Be a Place

"ALL. THE. FEELS. I came for the space puns (and the romance, duh!), and stayed for the beautiful writing, the quirky and loveable cast of characters (Sage and Neb are too adorkable - seriously, I love these two!), and ALL the smiles, the laughs, the heartbreak, the sighs, and the swoons (don't get me started... <3). More please? Pretty please with s'mores and Baily's beads on top?" —Regina, Goodreads review

"Chasing the Sun is about accepting the loss of the past and searching for a better future." —Danielle, Goodreads review