In fractured vignettes, Brooke Palinder describes the week she spends wondering if she’s pregnant after realizing her period is late. Her boyfriend is unable to offer support and Brooke can’t even tell her best friend. Feeling isolated, she reexamines her life and readies herself to take a pregnancy test.

Am I pregnant?

This question shatters the peace of seventeen-year-old Brooke Palinder’s life one Monday morning when she realizes her period is late. Although shaken, she’s determined to hide her feelings and go about her daily routine as though nothing is wrong.

Brooke’s boyfriend Ryan handles the news poorly, and she can’t bring herself to confide in anyone else, not even her best friend.

In an effort to distract herself, Brooke throws herself into a school project about Neptune, which leads her to some startling discoveries and a surprising sense of connection to the distant planet.

But by Saturday, she knows she must face the answer to the question that began her week.

Standing on Neptune is a novel in verse from the celebrated author of Counting Back from Nine, The Glory Wind, and Birdspell.