A Tuskegee Airman is shot down over France and becomes a slave in a Nazi missile factory. After his release, he moves back to Alabama only to find himself face to face with the same scientists who forced him to build futuristic weapons of war—but now they’re building rockets to take men to the moon.

Adventure,Suspense/Thriller,War,Historical Fiction,Apocalyptic

A Black neighbor child asks Johnny for a story. Johnny declines. but later that night begins to chronicle his life. Only Uncle Abe supports Johnny’s dream to fly airplanes. Abe secretly arranges French lessons with a French prostitute, in preparation for Johnny to go to France to become a pilot.

Late in life, Johnny’s wife becomes pregnant and is diagnosed with cancer. She refuses treatment in order to carry their child to term and dies after giving birth. Johnny offers his son for adoption, with the stipulation that he be allowed to live near the child—a boy who often asks him for stories

Alabama and Chicago; Italy and France during WWII; and German labor camps (Bergen-Belsen and Dora)

No

Internal Journey/Rebirth,Quest

Meaningful Message

Information not completed

Name: Johnny Nicholas

Age: 5-70

Gender: Male

Role: Protagonist

Key Traits: Complex,Decisive,Engaging,Faithful,Educated,Honorable,Underdog,Masculine,Modest,Patriotic,Selfless,Skillful,Secretive,Strong Moral Code,Unapologetic

Name: Virginia Nicholas

Age: 30

Gender: Female

Role: Logical

Key Traits: Complex,Confident,Decisive,Faithful,Greedy,Educated,Honorable,Patriotic,Religious,Selfless,Outspoken,Underdog,Skillful,Strong Moral Code,Unapologetic

Name: Uncle Abe

Age: 50

Gender: Male

Role: tempter

Key Traits: Badass,Charming,Complex,Confident,Crazy,Criminal,Decisive,Desperate,Engaging,Greedy,Insecure,Masculine,Uneducated,Religious,Blunt,Power Hungry,Outspoken,Skillful,Seductive,Manipulative,Unapologetic

Name: Dominique

Age: 48

Gender: Female

Role: mentor

Key Traits: Charming,Complex,Confident,Decisive,Engaging,Flexible,Gracious,Educated,Sexy,Patriotic,Skillful,Romantic,Secretive,Seductive,Sophisticated,Unapologetic,Lone Wolf

Inspired by true events, and written in memory of Jean Marcel Nicolas, a Haitian in the Dora camp who pretended to be a Tuskegee Airman. This tale is what his life might have been had that been true. The Moon Above is the sweeping saga of a Black man’s life from 1930s Alabama through the launch of the first rocket to the moon—rockets designed by the same German scientists who built the missiles that rained death on WWII London. Beginning with Johnny’s ‘hopeless’ dream to fly planes, we follow his entry into WWII as a Tuskegee Airman, his fight to survive Dora (a German labor camp that built the missiles used in the London attacks), through the Selma to Montgomery marches, to Johnny’s encounter with a German scientist he’d last seen in Dora, now lauded as an American hero. This saga contrasts southern and northern attitudes toward Black men and women in the 30s and 40s with European attitudes, and illuminates their struggles to be recognized as equals. When Dora is liberated, Johnny is near death, but survives and returns home to marry and father a son. In the second Selma to Montgomery march, his teenage son disappears. Johnny and his wife separate, but eventually reconcile. Virginia becomes pregnant, is diagnosed with cancer, and dies after giving birth. Unable to care for his infant son, Johnny offers the child for adoption, with the stipulation that he be allowed to live near the boy—who frequently enters Johnny’s yard and begs him for stories.

Brett Davis is a lifelong writer of both journalism and fiction. Growing up in north Alabama, he learned both about the Tuskegee Airmen and the German rocket scientists in Huntsville who helped put men on the moon. He’s glad to be able to bring their stories together in this novel. Brett is the author of five science fiction and fantasy novels but spends most of his time writing nonfiction about robots and drones. He studied journalism and photography at the University of North Alabama and the University of Missouri and has lived in Washington longer than anywhere else, but it doesn’t seem to have done him any harm. He’s an avid runner and biker and likes to spend as much time underwater as possible. He also bakes a mean scone. Follow him on Twitter at Brett_Davis and Instagram at Bsivad.

Age: 18-34,35-54,55+

Target Gender: Universal

African Americans

Status: Yes: self-published

Publisher: Scarsdale Publishing

Year Published: 2020

Yes

979-8635646939