Orbiting Jupiter
by Gary D. Schmidt
★ Top 25 book of 2015 · #24 on Best Books of 2015
Told through Jack's eyes, this novel follows his bond with his foster brother Joseph, a troubled boy shadowed by an abusive father. Joseph's young daughter Jupiter, kept from him, becomes central to a deeply emotional story.
Best for: Young readers ready for a moving, tearjerking story about foster family bonds
Orbiting Jupiter is #24 on BookWard's Best Books of 2015, out of 56 2015 books that cleared our data bar.
What Orbiting Jupiter is about
Twelve-year-old Jack Hurd lives with his parents on an organic farm in Maine, and his quiet routines change when the family agrees to foster Joseph Brook. Joseph is fourteen, wary, and carrying a history that follows him into every room: a recent stay at Stone Mountain and a three-month-old daughter named Jupiter whom he has never met. Jack tells the story, and through his eyes we watch a boy who has been given very little learn to be part of a household, even as school and old threats keep pressing in.
The Hurds promise to help Joseph see his daughter, but the path to her is blocked by people with power over him and by hurt that has no easy name. Schmidt writes in a spare, tender voice about fatherhood, belonging, love and loss. It suits readers who like short, emotional novels about families made and unmade.
Orbiting Jupiter on the Best Books of 2015
Orbiting Jupiter came out in 2015. Of the 56 books first published in 2015 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #24 on our Best Books of 2015 list.
Why it made the list: 290 readers have shelved it on Open Library. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2015 list
- Escaping Peril Tui T. Sutherland, #22
- Grey E. L. James, #23
See all Best Books of 2015 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2014 Best Books of 2016.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 254 want to read it, 12 are reading it now and 24 have read it, according to Open Library.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 46 | 55% |
| Reader love | 82 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 45 | 20% |
Questions about Orbiting Jupiter
When was Orbiting Jupiter published?
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt was first published in 2015.
Was Orbiting Jupiter one of the best books of 2015?
Orbiting Jupiter is #24 on BookWard's Best Books of 2015, out of 56 2015 books that cleared our data bar. 290 readers have shelved it on Open Library.
Why is Orbiting Jupiter on the Best Books of 2015 list?
290 readers have shelved it on Open Library.
More of the best books of 2015
- Six of Crows Leigh Bardugo, #1
- The Hired Girl Laura Amy Schlitz, #2
- Queen of Shadows Sarah J. Maas, #3
- November 9 Colleen Hoover, #4
- The Sword of Summer Rick Riordan, #5
- Red Queen Victoria Aveyard, #6
See the full Best Books of 2015, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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