Circling Jupiter (183 Pages)

I LOVE Gary Schmidt! Whenever I see his name in the new book section of bookstores, I grab it. His earlier book, Wednesday Wars is one of my all time favorites. This book is a close second. It is a bit of a tear jerker, but there is a happy ending. Joseph is a foster child who comes to live with Jack and his family. He was given some yellow pills with a promise of making him feel better, but instead the pills made him immediately become violent. When a teacher comes into the boy's bathroom to look for him, he flies at her attempting to strangle her. This resulted in his being incarcerated in a juvenile detention center.  Upon his release, he shows up with his social worker at Jack's home, a farm where he learns to milk a cow...eventually. But Joseph has some unusual phobias. He doesn't like anyone behind him- ever. He doesn't like to be touched- ever. It turns out that although he is barely fourteen years old, he is the father of a baby girl. His girlfriend,  Madeline Joyce, had complications during delivery, and died. The baby is named Jupiter, who Madeline and he both decided was their favorite planet. This is a short book, but it is powerful, and will be adored by your students- boys and girls!