It is 12 years since a massive solar storm stopped all Earth-Moon communication, and a small American industrial base on the far side of the moon limps along, still hoping for rescue. Only four adults survived the storm; the rest were caught out on the surface during a normal work day. The deceased left numerous children, and they have been trained to continue working the platinum mining operation. A decision was made at the time to teach them very little about Earth, in order to avoid disruption and hope, and the two managers and two scientists who survived keep a tight reign on activities and knowledge. The station's manager also has a daughter, who was five years old and visiting from Earth at the time of the incident, and for a large part she has been kept separate from the other children and educated thoroughly in the belief that one day she will assume her father's mantel or, if possible, return to Earth, which she remembers. At the time of this story, the surviving children range in age from about 14 through the early twenties. The adults work hard to keep them fed and motivated and the remaining equipment from failing entirely.

Although meagerly educated, these teenagers are nothing if not curious, and one day they break into the communications room and hear voices on the radio. When few of them get suited up and go outside they find a battered rover from a distant Chinese installation broken down near the base - with bodies inside. Soon thereafter some sort of ship comes over the horizon.

This was a well-written and exciting story. The adults and teens alike are interesting characters, and their predicament raises all sort of questions about how a small and powerless group of adults could organize the survivors to stay alive and hopeful with such an open-ended future. There is a too-convenient problem with one of the adults which leads to much of drama as the book progresses, but the story still had me rooting for a good ending and more-than-willing to stay up late to find out what happens. ( )