cried,, to say this storyline and writing is just beautiful would be an understatement,
this book is pretty short but really complex and layered, it said everything it needed in just under two hundred pages, the amount of character and plot development is astonishing for such a short book, "Jupiter. I promise I'll always know where you are"
i'm so sad i might throw up Very beautiful and heartbreaking.
sitelink Orbiting Jupiter is the story of a fourteen year old boy, Joseph, who was in prison and is now joining the twelve year old narrator Jack's family as a foster child.
Between these boys, we learn what it means to have someone's back and how powerful friendship can be, We slowly learn Joseph's backstory including the fact that he has a baby daughter, Jupiter, he has never even seen, This is a very quick read and has the message of getting to know someone before judging them, The setting is very realistic with the palpable frigid air, Though the writing is simple, it works perfectly in this middle grade novel, Schmidt successfully evokes emotions I wasn't aware I had without feeling manipulative, Absolutely gut wrenching. I easily fell in love with Joseph and his foster family, If only all foster kids could be so lucky to get a family like this, And Jack! Can't say enough about him, Immediately ready to go to bat for Joseph! This is definitely one you need to put on your tbr pile, Oh my goodness, I think my heart just grew a size after reading this,/stars. My god, this book was so sad,
I'm not a book crier, Not really. When I say a book made me cry I usually mean that tears filled my eyes, but that's all, This book, though I got pretty close a few times and then in the penultimate chapter, I just lost it, I actually felt my face crumple and my nose was stinging,
Now I've painted you that beautiful picture of my breakdown, I'm going to try to review this book, It's not easy. I've loved Schmidt's other YA/Middle Grade contemporary novels sitelinkOkay for Now and sitelinkThe Wednesday Wars each had a sadness to it, but not quite like this one.
sitelinkOrbiting Jupiter is quiet and simple for the most part, which makes it all the more devastating when the blows come.
And come they do. Schmidt has a way of effortlessly drawing out emotions in every scene, without ever making you feel like you're being manipulated, This quiet sadness is more effective than any drama I could read,
The story is narrated by Jack, theyear old son of foster parents, Whenyear old Joseph joins their family, his life is changed in many ways and not all of them are good, It actually tells two stories on the one hand, it's about the power of friendship and sob "having someone's back", on the other, it's about Joseph's backstory.
I'm not sure which one elicited the greatest emotional response from me,
It made me sad and even angry at times, Joseph we soon learn is ayear old parent to a baby called Jupiter, Both naive and mature, all he wants is to be with his baby and love her, You understand why being with Joseph is not in Jupiter's best interests, whilst also being heartbroken for him, Especially after learning of his abusive, loveless upbringing,
The author's decision to narrate from Jack's POV gives the novel even more strength, We are not clouded by Joseph's blind love for his baby, but we do also see how powerless children are, We feel their frustrations and sadness,
As we reached the novel's climax, I thought I had mixed feelings about the way it was ending, but that last part completely won me over.
I recommend this to everyone who enjoys contemporary YA/Middle Grade,
The characters are young but it has as much depth as any YA book,
sitelinkBlog sitelinkFacebook sitelinkTwitter sitelinkInstagram sitelinkYoutube sitelinkPinterest I cried, Find all of my reviews at: sitelink blogspot. com/
“Christmas is the season for miracles, you know, Sometimes they come big and loud, I guess but Ive never seen one of those, I think probably most miracles are a lot smaller, and sort of still, and so quiet, you could miss them, I didnt miss this one, ”
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WTF have you done to me, sitelinkAnna Good grief, I had feelings two days in a row, My robot heart is obviously in need of a tuneup,
Orbiting Jupiter begins with Jacks family making a very important decision that of bringing a troubled foster child into their home.
You then are introduced to Joseph and your guts get ripped from your body instantaneously, . .
“Since he left Stone Mountain, he wont wear anything orange, He wont let anyone stand behind him, He wont let anyone touch him, He wont go into rooms that are too small, And he wont eat canned peaches, ”
Eventually you learn all of Josephs story, including not only how he ended up in juvie, but also how athe became a father to a baby girl named Jupiter.
. .
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You read about the bond of friendship and the true meaning of having someones back, . .
“You want to tell me what a sixth grader was doing in the eighthgrade side of the locker room, in an eighthgrade fight”
“Winning.
”
Oh Jack, . .
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And you discover that you should always trust a cows opinion of strangers, . .
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If youre an adult, you probably will end up finding the ending more than a bit contrived.
. . but this story wasnt really written for grownups to begin with and it still wont stop the onslaught of feelings youve had up to that point.
If icewater runs in your veins like it does mine, you may not cry, but you might find you still need a bit of “moral support” to get through the rest of the evening.
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I fell in love with Gary Schmidt when I read sitelinkOkay For Now I read that before I wrote imaged up book reviews so Annas getting a doublewhammy of linkage.
Im going to put it on record that I think he writes the most important middlegrade books that Ive ever read and rather than “required” reading consisting of bullshit like Marie Antoinette: Serial Killer my kids cough all kids cough should be reading Schmidts books instead.
He makes you think he makes you feel and he makes you see the notsopretty side of growing up, . . but he manages to do it in a childfriendly way, Why are all the books out to break me!
I feel numb, For a middlegrade this is incredibly deep and touching, it will forever change the way I look at 'trouble kids' and I WANT TO HUG JOSEPH!
There isn't really anything I can add other than the synopsis without spoiling anything, so I won't.
Just know thatpages can do a lot, This could have been so, so much better and nearly was, until threequarters of the way through, when all of the plot devices you're hoping weren't going to be pulled out suddenly are, and the book ends on an almost insultingly predictable way.
This had all the makings of a truly amazing book the writing, in particular, was so different from Schmidt's earlier books haunting, spare, simple language.
The characters remained a bit underdeveloped, but in a good way, like acquaintances rather than close friends, Setting is likewise sparse, and everything is just slightly left vague, like the foggy jacket photo, So why do I feel so utterly manipulated by this book I guessed the minute that Chekhov's Rotten Bridge showed up, remarked upon in a throwaway comment near the beginning of the book, that This is a very small book onlypages, double spaced, Easy read in one sitting, But it is in no way a small story,
I did not find it YAish just because the main character, Joseph, is a thirteen year old boy and his foster brother is a couple years younger.
The content of the story deals with grownup situations that most people could relate to even if youre old like me.
It is a story about family and friendship and understanding, WOW. The fact that a one hour reading experience could make me cry like that is honestly impressive for such a short book, “orbiting jupiter” certainly packs a punch!
I will say there were certain parts of this that I found a bit cringy or hard to believe, but that aside, this blew me away.
Jackies simplistic narration was done beautifully and his tothepoint way of seeing the world didnt take away from any of the poignant moments in the story.
The metaphor of Jupiter both as a planet and as Josephs daughter throughout, especially towards the end, brought me to tears,
“Jupiter. I promise Ill always know where you are, ”
Break my heart, why dont you
I
doubt this book will make much of a lasting impact on me, but its incredible for what it is and would certainly recommend it to anyone who needs an excuse to let some tears out! this shattered my heart into a million pieces.
there's absolutely no way i can put into words how beautiful and heartbreaking this was, so instead, here's a gif of me after reading the last two chapters: