ORBITING JUPITER, by Gary D. Schmidt

The story: Jack's new foster brother, Joseph, has had terrible things happen in his life. Even though Joseph is just 14, he's been abused, done time in juvie, and fathered a child. Now spending a frigid winter with the Hurd family on their farm, he little-by-little reveals his story to them and dreams about both meeting his daughter and moving on with his life. When tragedy overtakes him, it's important for Jack to know that he has Joseph's back--no matter what.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG-13; Sexual content PG; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (there are many, but none of them graphic, including child abuse, abuse in an institution, teen sex and pregnancy) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: I have to preface this by saying that I'm actually a fan of Gary D. Schmidt. He's a great literary writer for an age-group that sees little of that art form. However, he usually has a bit of humor to lighten up whatever tragedy he's dishing out. In this book, not so much. In fact, even though this story was well-received critically (Booklist starred), I found it depressing and I'm not sure I'll be trying to sell it to kids. Schmidt's always been an author that adults like better than kids do, and this book is no exception. (Sorry! But I'm looking at the book from the point of view of the average MS reader, and I'm pretty sure their response would be, "Um...no thanks?")