Something strange happened in the summer of 1999... Led by Johnny, their adolescent hero, a group of five boys discover an alien has crashed in the woods behind their house. While the visitor unwittingly wreaks havoc upon the small Indiana town, Johnny sympathizes with its loneliness, compelling the other boys to seek a connection with it. Set on the brink of the Midwest meth epidemic, the nosy neighbors, oblivious parents, and a close-minded sheriff believe the town to be overrun by "junkies"; meanwhile, Johnny and the boys spend the summer trying to help their extraterrestrial friend fix its spaceship and find its freedom among the stars. Johnny also finds love with a fellow misfit, although he can't shake the feeling that he, like his new alien friend, isn't built for Planet Earth. Written with lyrical prose and a fondness for 90's pop culture, The Stars Above captures the essence of millennial childhood and Midwest isolation.