A review by banazmagdid
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

4.0

"The sound of the wind was awful, like it was crying and lost and scared and not sure what to do except to wail."

Orbiting Jupiter is seen through Jack's eyes as his parents foster Joseph, a boy only a few years older than him. Jack learns that Joseph attempted to murder his teacher and that Joseph has a daughter. We see as Joseph grow closer to his foster family, particularly his foster brother Jack.

The characters' ages almost made me not take the book seriously, but once you get beyond that, you realize how strong the plot really is. Although the book is short, the story is most certainly not small.

Also, this book has excellent writing. I've never seen anything like it. You simply become immersed and trapped into this repetitive pattern of rhythm every time.

Being so moved to the point of crying by such a short book was not what I had anticipated. It only goes to show how well written the book was to make that happen in such a short period of time as I don't usually cry while reading books.