Gary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books and one Printz Honor award. He lives on a farm in Michigan and has six children. He is a professor of English at Calvin College.
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 Here Joseph, dmanage and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost.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 novel reads like middle grade to me, which makes sense! Jack is the narrator, and he's only twelve, and we see everything through his perception. This makes the entire story powerful, because these incredibly difficult topics are distilled down through a child's voice and child's understanding. As a reader, we understand what is happening sometimes more than Jack does, but that doesn't mean he isn't noticing, and that his world view isn't changing. It's at time chilling and eye-opening, watching someone grow up fast on the page.
The story itself is a compelling one: a young boy fathered a daughter, and is looking to reconnect with her. It's a side of young adult we don't always see, and I think Schmidt does a great job bringing a lot of compassion to Joseph's past. Through Jack, we see how he's able to connect with Joseph, and how the full story is able to fall onto the page.
The most heartbreaking part of the story for me isn't just the ending—while, of course it has to be a big part. Instead, it's the potential of the ending. Jack and Joseph had a budding friendship, something that could have blossomed to friendship from "having each other's back." That is entirely ripped away from then, and it's something I'm going to think about for a long time. Despite the hopeful ending, the entire novelty of it is colored by Joseph's fate, and it breaks my heart.
*An abbreviated version of this review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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