Mark Paul Oleksiw’s debut novel explores the power of friendship and memories in a hauntingly touching coming-of-age story.

WINNER OF 2018 RED RIBBON (The Wishing Shelf Book Awards)

“‘A highly-charged, often gripping young adult mystery.”– The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

“THE BOYS WHO DANCED WITH THE MOON is a tender and poetic look at adolescent boyhood, and its currents will draw the reader along almost as powerfully as those of the river at its heart.”– Indiereader.com

The Story

Can you ever escape the past? Kiran Wells, a thirtysomething professional living on the West Coast, thought he was safe until an anonymous letter arrives from his hometown. Its only contents- an old newspaper clipping about a drowning twenty years earlier. Leaving career and friends behind, Kiran returns to the place of his youth to find the conjurer of his past.

Kiran is a quiet and shy teenager with a taste for alternative music growing up in a suburban northern town during the mid-80’s. The arrival of two students, the confident and rebellious Marius and the naive, cloak-wearing Moony, awaken Kiran. On the eve of graduation, fate turns the volume off in Kiran’s world and his memory fades to black.

Returning to his hometown, Kiran is forced to confront the demons that haunt him. His future depends on whatever hope he has left and the life or death decision he must ultimately make. Will he hear the music again?

“Why didn’t we ever dance if we had all this great music?”-Moony