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Orbiting Jupiter, by Gary D. Schmidt (2015)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: A rural family takes in a teenager prematurely matured by a series of tragic events.

Review: I can‘t say enough about this wonderful (older middle grade) book about the grace of second chances. ⬇️

Both these books were 5 🌟 they were very different, but both made me cry. I now get the obsession with the Throne of Glass series!!! Lorcan and Elide ❤️

“ “How much of that bible story is true?”

“I think it all has to be true, or none of it.”

“The angels? Really?”

“Why not?”

“Because bad things happen. If there were angels, then bad things wouldn‘t happen.”

“Maybe angels aren‘t always meant to stop bad things.”

“So what good are they?”

“To be with us when bad things happen.”

“Then where the hell were they?”

I thought Reverend Ballou was going to start bawling.”

I finished this book in one night, it was so amazing. It‘s a heart wrenching tale of grief and loss with a plot and ending that can only be described as tragic. The powerful narrative truly tells a story of both successful and failed second chances that had me absolutely bawling.

Took a little break from Empire of the Vampire to read Orbiting Jupiter. Narrated by 12-year-old Jack, this is the moving story of Joseph, a boy a couple years older, who is fostered by Jack‘s parents. Joseph‘s life has been anything but easy, but he settles into life on Jack‘s family‘s farm, and begins to open up to his new ‘family‘. Lovely, but heartbreaking. I guess it‘s MG, although thematically it probably more YA.

The highlight of my bookish year…meeting Gary Schmidt at his house for cheesecake and tea to talk about his book! An amazing man!

This was a moving book, and the first in a long time to really draw me in and make me not want to put it down. A great, if sad, story.

#bookhaul for no reason other than #books. #sorrynotsorry

Ugh. So good.
Told from the point of view of 12 yr old Jack. Who has a new 14 yr old foster brother Joseph. Joseph is a father. He became a father at 13. What we discover about him is- he loved Maddie. His biological father is a terrible human. Joseph has gone through hell, and we watch as he tries to cope with his reality. This is a quiet, beautiful, and tragic story. It's a quick read that will leave you shook.

Orbiting Jupiter is one of the best books I‘ve ever read! It‘s YA, and I teach high school. My daughter read it & loved it & wanted me to read it, but I was reluctant bc I was burned out on YA at the time. But she was persistent, so I read it. It ended up being so good that we emailed the author Gary Schmidt to tell him how much we loved it! It‘s a must-read!

A devastating but understated ending that left me scrabbling for something uplifting. Loved the bond between the two boys but found it a bit unemotional at the end, which was surprising as a result of the content.

Just started, and I am already drawn to it. I think I can finish tonight. We shall see...

A 13 year old boy in foster care is trying to get to his daughter. This is no sentimental schlop but the real, heart rending story of a love that won‘t quit. Broken.

Joseph's backstory is shared in bits and pieces as he slowly builds bonds with his foster family. A story that didn't need to have explicit words or descriptive sexual scenes to get the point across to the reader. This book is relevant to middle schoolers through adults, who would benefit from learning how to react in a way that mirrors second chances rather than pigeonholing students based on the past.

I had this book in my TBR for long and this in a link of must reads. The book is a bit different, not the usual kind and I don't think everybody would like it. But I found the book really sweet and recommend this go everyone. Don't want to spoil it by describing it, guys, go for it.
4.3/5🌟
PS- The book is very short.

For such a short read (I devoured it in a day) this book hit me hard! Oh the judgements we make sometimes have irreparable consequences.

"I got his back."
Have you ever loved someone you have never met?

About halfway through this Virginia Reader. So good and so sad! Worth the read. #virginiareaders

I had low expectations for this book because I wasn't a fan of The Wednesday Wars. Orbiting Jupiter however, was really beautiful. Schmidt juxtaposed a simple life on a farm in Maine with the realities of child abuse, teen pregnancy, and the foster care system. He didn't shy away from the complications of the system, and I respect him all the more for it. I think I might use this as a class read for my middle schoolers.

Would have been a great short story or full novel. But this was too short and wasn't given the attention that could have made it great. Not particularly invigorating writing, a predictable plot, a genuinely unbelievable driving force for the main characters and a cheap ending. I don't understand what the fuss is all about.

This was a one sitting read. A wonderful one at that. Told from Jack‘s (12) point of view, Joseph‘s (14) situation is handled well for a middle school audience. Heart wrenching and #huggable.

#RebeccaCaudill2018

Finally starting this! Thanks again, @DiruVamp for gifting this to me! 🙂

3/5. I would have liked it better if I were younger, but it was a really good story.

quite excited for my first christmas read by #garydschmidt 👍👍 #orbitingjupiter #youngadult

Orbit books is having a great giveaway! Free to enter. Check it out. http://swee.ps/EHNgDFPOG

Cosy pyjamas & a new book... Exactly what weekends were made for ☺️

⭐️
The only good thing about this book was that it was very quick and easy read; but other than that I was very disappointed. I felt that the ending of the story was very rushed and thought the story was very unrealistic and couldn't connect with any of the characters.

This book is beautifully heart-wrenching and joyful at the same time. When you first read the synopsis, it's sounds really sad, but trust me, it's awesome. It is about a boy's foster brother's quest to find his baby girl, Jupiter.

One of my favorite authors

"You know how teachers are. If they get you to take out a book they love too, they're yours for life."

Why? This had a lot of promise but the end was just so abrupt and needlessly depressing...

The best thing about school holidays is having a chance to catch up on reading! Getting stuck into another UKLA book award nominee now....

Truth.

Quite the little tear-jerker. Gary D. Schmidt is very underrated in my opinion.

A very short, very tragic read. Wow! This story is going to stick with me for awhile. An 8th grade boy, with a 3 month old daughter is placed in foster care after attempting to kill a teacher. Well-written.

When I first dug into this book about a boy who becomes a 13-year old father, I was thinking, "There's no way this is appropriate for a middle school audience!" But it is. And it's beautiful.

The setting, a remote farm in Maine, feels so real: comforting, peaceful, cathartic. This book wowed me. Don't read it without a box of tissues - but once you've got one handy, please read it! It's so good!

"The night was cold and dark when we got to new First Congregational, and the stars were thick as cream."

I added author name coz cropping cropped it. I whipped through this heart wrencher, and once again, I finish a book thinking, what is served by these characters dying? It feels manipulative and more about making a point that serving the story.

But it's beautiful writing, and Jack, the narrator's innocence and courage is admirable, and our other main character Joseph is a lesson in tragic injustice.

But really? I am sick at writing those words.

This book will give you all the feels. It's heart wrenching in a good way. It's a laugh and cry out loud kind of novel. I read it for the middle school library but will add to the high school collection. Lower level writing with higher level messaging. #teenparent #loss #fosterchildren

"You can tell all you need to know about someone from the way cows are around him."

This was a very intriguing book that puts you in the place of the characters and makes you feel and understand what they are going through. Although the ending was emotional, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read

It's so good. Gary Schmidt should be in everyone's TBR pile.

This book was a tear-jerker! An amazing story of hardship, family bonds, and the unrelenting power of love.

#libraryquote

A YA novel with a bittersweet story about teen parenthood. A teen father, who was deeply in love with the teen mother, embarks on a journey to locate the child that he was not given the right to have as a teen dad. Heartfelt.

"You know how teachers are. If they get you to take out a book they love too, they're yours for life." #truth

There is something special about Gary D. Schmidt's writing. He can make a cow wiggling her rump at milking time one of the sweetest things ever and make my heart ache so easily by how he makes me root for his characters. His "The Wednesday Wars" and "Okay for Now" are just as well-written, but I don't remember crying while reading THOSE books...

There is something special about Gary D. Schmidt's writing. He can make a cow wiggling her rump at milking time one of the sweetest things ever and make my heart ache so easily by how he makes me root for his characters. His "The Wednesday Wars" and "Okay for Now" are just as well-written, but I don't remember crying while reading THOSE books...

Loved it!