Orbiting Jupiter

Publishers Weekly Best Book

Golden Sower Award (Nebraska)

Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award

In this riveting novel, two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires.

Two-time Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt delivers the shattering story of Joseph, a father at thirteen, who has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. 

After spending time in a juvenile facility, he’s placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. 

When Jack meets his new foster brother, he knows three things about him:

     • Joseph almost killed a teacher.

     • He was incarcerated at a place called Stone Mountain.

     • He has a daughter. Her name is Jupiter. And he has never seen her.

What Jack doesn't know, at first, is how desperate Joseph is to find his baby girl. Or how urgently he, Jack, will want to help.

But the past can't be shaken off. Even as new bonds form, old wounds reopen. The search for Jupiter demands more from Jack than he can imagine.

This tender, heartbreaking novel is Gary D. Schmidt at his best. He is the author of the Printz Honor and Newbery Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; Okay for Now, a National Book Award finalist; and The Wednesday Wars, a Newbery Honor Book, among his many acclaimed novels for young readers.

"A powerful story about second chances, all the more devastating because not everyone gets one."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)