THE SECRET ASTRONOMERS, by Jessica Walker, Viking Books for Young Readers, Nov. 4, 2025, Hardcover, $19.99 (young adult)
Two strangers become friends through notes in a library astronomy book in The Secret Astronomers, by Jessica Walker.
When a recent transfer student starts keeping her diary in the oldest textbook at the Green Bank High School library, the last thing she expects is to receive a response. Thus begins a sweeping tale of unlikely friendship and long-buried secrets between two secret pen pals at a rural West Virginia high school.
Copernicus is adrift and searching for answers after the sudden death of her mother, and leaving her cosmopolitan life in San Francisco behind. Kepler is a small-town girl with straight A’s and big plans to be the first person in her family to go to college, despite her family’s modest means. The two girls are so different from one another but united in their goal to solve a mystery that has riddled Green Bank for decades. —Synopsis provided by Viking Books for Young Readers
The Secret Astronomers is unlike any book I’ve read. The story takes place through illustrations and notes hand-drawn by debut author Jessica Walker across the pages of an actual ancient astrophysics textbook. And it’s the epistolary format that makes this story work. You really feel as if you’ve happened upon this textbook.
This is a story of friendship, and you’re there from the beginning. It’s through this lens that Copernicus and Kepler work through grief, crushes, disabilities and family. Copernicus and Kepler are unique voices, yet they’re navigating relatable teenage issues.
The Secret Astronomers is a strong contemporary YA novel with a mystery laced throughout.
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