Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. Unabridged audiobook, ~ 3 hours. Read by Zachary Roe. Clarion Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, December, 2021. Review of audiobook borrowed from public library.

Teen Tuesday features Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. I first read this with my eyes back in August of 2016. It was published in fall of 2015. I was still giving stars to my GR posts and gave five with the comment: Okay, officially gutted. I swear, there are not many authors who can do what Gary D. Schmidt does in so few words. The economy, beauty, imagery and heart in his writing is astonishing.

After I read Jupiter Rising, I realized that I couldn't really remember the details of Orbiting Jupiter. It was, after all, about 2500 or so books ago, so I decided to reread it with my ears. 

This is the first-person narration by Jackson Hurd. A sixth grader who lives on a dairy farm with his parents, who have agreed to foster Joseph Brooks, a thirteen-year-old who has fathered a child, spent time in a juvenile detention facility and doesn't like to be touched or approached from behind. Jackson and his parents give Joseph the space and time he needs, but also chores, such as milking the cows, which he also needs. Unfortunately, other adults in the community, have prejudged Joseph, starting with the school bus driver, so Joseph and Jackson walk to school in the bitter cold.

As Joseph slowly thaws with the Hurds, they learn his story and are more committed than ever to helping him. All Joseph wants is to see his baby, who is in foster care since her mother, Maddie, has died.

This emotionally intense, character-driven novel packs a punch. Have tissues handy. The narrator was different than the one for Jupiter Rising. He was measured and fine, except he mispronounced the name of a character several times, which annoyed me. 

Orbiting Jupiter was named a Publishers Weekly Best Book, an ALA Notable as well as quite a few state award lists. It has become a TMS favorite over the years and a book I highly recommend. Happy reading.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko

Image: Penguin Random House

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko. Unabridged e-audiobook ~7 hours. Narrated by Javier Prusky. Books on Tape/ Listening Library, June, 2024. 9781984833716. Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.

Happy Monday! What are you doing the beat the heat? It's pretty steamy here. Too hot to garden and too hot to take the dogs for long walks. Middle Grade Monday features The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko. 

Eleven-year-old Hank adores his three-year-old sister, Boo, even though she calls him Pooperman. He also adores his mother even though she doesn't make the best decisions. She has been gone for a week now and Hank has stayed home from school to take care of Boo, but food is running out and there's no money to buy more. The electricity was turned off and the landlord is about to evict the family for non-payment of rent. When Hank finds the name of an emergency contact, he knows his mom will be angry with him, but he feels he has no choice. Together, he and Boo take buses to find their way to LouAnn Adler's house. Ms. Adler was Hank's grandmother's best friend and runs a day care center from her home. She's not happy that Hank and Boo showed up, but she takes them in out of respect for his grandmother's memory. Hank starts a new school, makes new friends and might even make the basketball team, but deep down, he knows this arrangement isn't permanent and he really misses his mom.

There is so much to love about this first-person narrative. Hank is so earnest and endearing and Boo is just a hoot! Be prepared though, Hank and Boo's situation is dire. LouAnn can't/ doesn't want to keep the siblings and social services might split them up. Hank is very resourceful, but makes some poor decisions of his own out of love. My heart just broke for Hank and Boo.

The audio performance was well done. Mr. Prusky sounded appropriately young and had a wide variety of voices to distinguish the characters. I can't wait to add this to my library's collection and share it with my students. Highly recommended. 

PS: Posting might get a little hit or miss in the coming days. On Friday, I became a foster mom and Boo became a foster brother to Helga. She's a German Shepherd who was pulled from an animal cruelty situation. The rescue thinks she's around three. An amazing trainer has been volunteering his time to work with her and help her trust again. She's eager and smart, but a bit mouthy, especially if I try and sit down. She's doing really well and Boo is getting lots of extra treats.

#tbt: One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

  

Image: Penguin Random House

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. 240 p. Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Young Readers, May, 2012. 9780399256158. (Own.)

#tbt celebrates the tenth anniversary of the publication of One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. This TMS favorite was the author's debut. Twelve-year-old Carley Connors was placed in foster care with the Murphy family after her step-father beat up her and her mother. Her mother is still hospitalized and unable to adequately care for Carley. Carley is furious at everyone and does not want to be in foster care. She's not alone, Mr. Murphy and the oldest Murphy boy don't want Carley there either. But Mrs. Murphy does and very soon, the two younger boys warm to Carley and she begins to realize that a family can be a safe place filled with love. Readers will be captivated by Carley's first-person narration. She's snarky and hilarious, but really hurting inside. 

This book is a favorite for a very good reason. 

Middle Grade Monday: Feathers by Jorge Corona

Image: Simon & Schuster

Feathers written and illustrated by Jorge Corona. Colors by Jen Hickman. Letters by Deron Bennett. Feathers series #1. 176 p. Archaia/ Simon & Schuster, February, 2019. 9781684153077. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Middle Grade Monday features Feathers written and illustrated by Jorge Corona. Eleven-year-old Poe is a shadowy figure in the slums of the Maze. His over-protective foster father, Gabriel forbids him to leave their dwelling for fear he will be kidnapped, or worse. He found Poe as an infant, abandoned and covered in black feathers. But the children of the slums are disappearing and Poe feels it's his duty to try and protect them. 

On the other side of the wall that surrounds the slums, the rich live in splendor. One little, rich girl named Bianca is bored though, and seeks adventure. She convinces her father to take her with him on a trip into the Maze and disappears in search of adventure at the first opportunity.

This debut graphic novel is the beginning of a series that rewards readers with rich art and plenty of action and suspense. It was originally published as a series of magazine installments. I cannot wait for book two.

Middle Grade Monday: Give and Take by Elly Swartz

Image: Macmillan

Give and Take by Elly Swartz. 314 p. Farrar Straus and Giroux/ Macmillan Publishers, October, 2019. 9780374308216. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Middle Grade Monday features Give and Take by Elly Swartz. Change is hard! Children in particular, might have a hard time coping with change, especially when it brings sadness, as is Maggie's case. She's been hit by a triple-whammy of change. Maggie's beloved grandmother recently died, but before that, she suffered from dementia. One day, her grandmother just forgot who Maggie was. So Maggie began saving things in order not to forget anything in her life. Only these weren't just memorable objects. They were odd things, like gum wrappers and empty milk containers. 

Then she finds out that her shooting coach father has invited a boy to join her all girl trap-shooting team! And, when her family temporarily fosters a newborn named Isabella, Maggie becomes attached. Even though her mother cautions that the situation is only temporary, Maggie hopes Izzy will stay. Her compulsion to save/ hoard gets out of control. And so does her anger. When her mother discovers her hoard of stuff and cleans, Maggie loses it.

Swartz excels at writing sympathetic tweens struggling with anxiety and mental illness. (Finding Perfect) Maggie has a loving and supportive family who firmly but lovingly put her in the care of a behavioral psychologist to get at the root of her problem. Along the way, readers meet her wide circle of friends and learn a bit about trap-shooting. 

What a wonderful story! I have such fierce love for everything about this book from the amazing cover to the end notes with resources. Give and Take is a great addition to any school, public or classroom library!

Middle Grade Monday: One for the Murphys by Lynda Mulally Hunt

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. 288 p. Penguin Young Readers Group, May, 2012. 9780399256158. (Own)

Twelve-year-old Carly has a lot to be angry about. Her mother was brutally beaten by her step-father and hospitalized and Carly has been placed in foster care.  Carly can't remember everything that happened that night but somehow feels that she is to blame. She wants nothing to do with Mr. or Mrs Murphy or any of their many sons. But Mrs. Murphy is a really great mom and her rambunctious, loud sons really love her and each other. Readers will root for her as she slowly lets her defenses down and even makes a friend at school. One for the Murphys was Ms. Hunt's debut in 2012 (review here). She followed it up with Fish in a Tree in 2015. Both books are popular with my students, especially those who like sad books. 

Teen Tuesday (audiobook review): Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway. Unabridged audiobook on 1 MP3-CD. Read by Julia Whelan. HarperAudio, December, 2017. 9781538518755. (Review from purchased audiobook.)

Teen Tuesday features Far from the Tree by Robin Benway. Benway won the National Book Award for Literature for Young People for this book last November. The story is told from three perspectives - Grace, a sixteen-year-old girl who, having given up her own daughter for adoption decides that she wants to learn more about her own birth mother who gave her up at birth. She learns that she has two half-siblings, a sister, Maya, who was also adopted at birth and an older brother, Joaquin, who was surrendered to foster care, was never adopted and is about to age out of the system. This multi-layered, (make no assumptions) deeply emotional book (there will be tears) is best read by students in grade 8 and up. 

I enjoyed this one but I had to get over the narrator's annoying voices for any male character. While she was rather soft-spoken, the whole narration was a bit dead-pan and dry. 

Review: Wish by Barbara O'Connor

Wish by Barbara O'Connor. 227 p. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, August, 2016. 9780374302733. (Purchased)

After eleven-year-old Charlie's dad, Scrappy, is sent to prison to be "corrected" and her mom can't seem to drag herself out of bed, Charlie is sent to live with Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus. Not only is she separated from her beloved older sister, she doesn't know these people and they live way out in the boondocks. Her best friend tells her she'll be going to school with hillbillies. She is not happy. At the best of times, Charlie is prickly and prone to fight, a trait she proudly believes she inherited from her father.

Nonetheless, Bertha and Gus are thrilled to have her despite the sulking and nasty comments. Her tough shell repels her classmates effectively except for Howard, a neighbor who lives in a noisy house with many brothers and walks with an "updown" walk. His persistent kindness is a true puzzle to Charlie.

Charlie does have one wish though. Ever since fourth grade, she looks for a sign daily to make a wish on and she has never ever told her wish. She feels unwanted and like she doesn't fit in anywhere. When she spies a dog skulking around town and learns that it's a stray no one seems to own, Charlie is determined to make it hers.

O'Connor evokes a strong sense of setting here and her characters, even the minor ones, are fully fleshed out. The town is fictional but it and the community are so well-drawn, I feel I would recognize Colby were it real. I kind of wish it was. Charlie is a keen observer and her voice is achingly compelling. I winced with each mis-step and fell more in love with Bertha and Gus as they continued to love Charlie unconditionally. Howard is an exceptional character also. He is lucky to be buoyed by a large, loving family to help him cope with his own troubles. He is a steadfast friend to Charlie despite her occasional cruelty. 

I adored this book and will recommend it widely - to tweens who love dog stories and stories of friendship; to readers who love gentle, more thoughtful stories; and to teachers who might be looking for a powerful read-aloud to imbue important, discussable messages without a sledgehammer. 

Arc Review: Free Verse by Sarah Dooley

Free Verse by Sarah Dooley. 335 p. G.P. Putnam's Sons, March 17, 2016. 9780399165030. (Review from arc courtesy of editor)

This quiet novel, part of which is in verse, packs a powerful punch. There is so much loss in young Sasha's life, it's no wonder she has anger issues. Her mother abandoned the family when she was five. Then her father died in a mining accident when she was eight, leaving her and her brother Michael to fend for themselves. Michael, who desperately wanted to join the military and leave Caboose, West Virginia, put his dreams on hold to care for Sasha. When he died fighting a fire, Sasha believes she has no one. 

Luckily for her, there are a number of caring adults in her life who won't give up on her despite how many times she runs away or erupts violently. Phyllis takes her in to foster and tries to provide stability and space. Slowly, Sasha lets her guard down and when family is discovered right next door, Sasha warily begins to hope. But then a new loss causes her to stop speaking. She retreats into her poetry notebook, where she finds her voice.

Ms. Dooley (Livie Owen Lived Here) paints a vivid picture of the hardships that residents of a mining community face - the dangers for the workers, the poverty, as well as social problems such as addictions, that might arise. But all is not bleak, there is beauty, even in the grime, and a strong sense of community as well. This novel is peopled with memorable characters.

The language is lovely. I dog-earred quite a few pages to revisit. Lines like, "We see houses in town that lean toward each other like they're cheating on a test." (p.196)

I agree with the marketing blurb that teachers and librarians should give Blank Verse to fans of Sharon Creech, specifically, Walk Two Moons. Fans of emotionally wrenching books, or first-person narratives, or introspective, character-driven books will appreciate Sasha's voice. Don't miss this gem.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt. 186 p. Clarion/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October, 2015. 9780544462229. (Purchased.)

Sixth grader, Jack Hurd relates the story of Joseph, the broken fourteen-year-old that his parents decide to foster. Joseph comes to the Hurds angry and withdrawn but they know how to handle angry and withdrawn. Mr. Hurd sets Joseph to work milking the cows even though Joseph has never been near a cow in his life, let alone milked one. For Jack, when Rosie the cow accepts Joseph immediately, that's all he needs to know. He just wishes that Joseph would stop calling him Jackie.

And that's all I'm going to say about this sad, powerful, not-to-be-missed tearjerker. Oh, there will be tears and quite possibly heaving sobs. I am officially gutted. I cannot talk about this book (and I have booktalked it) without tearing up. I cannot look at the cover without swallowing hard.

I swear, there are not many authors who can do what Gary D. Schmidt does in so few words. The economy, beauty, imagery and heart in his writing is astonishing. I would like to believe that I could identify his style in an auditory version of a blind taste test. In each book, he makes particularly effective use of repetition as a literary device.

I must admit that when I first heard the synopsis, my eyebrows rose. While I know that physically, it might be possible for a thirteen-year-old to father a child with another thirteen-year-old, how might one fashion a story around it without exploitation or sensationalism? (Or romanticism, even.) Leave it to Mr. Schmidt to craft such a story humanely.

Do not miss this. It's a must-purchase.

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

380 p. Dial Books for Young Readers/ Penguin Group (USA) Inc., August 29, 2013. 9780803738553. (Arc obtained at ALA Annual, courtesy of the publisher)

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old adoptee and a bit of an odd-ball. She's a genius and a tad obsessive, especially about gardening, nature, and medical conditions. She's also an astute observer. She knows she doesn't fit in. She knows that her parents desperately want her to, so she tolerates school and all the disappointments that it brings, to please them. When she aces the state test, she is accused by the school administrators of cheating and is sent to a counselor for evaluation. She protects her parents by handling it herself. They have no idea that she has weekly "counseling" sessions after school. It is during one of these sessions that tragedy strikes and Willow's world falls apart.

The structure of this story is unique, at least to me. It took me awhile to realize that it's told essentially in one sentence paragraphs, not quite blank verse, not quite standard prose. This enhances Willow's rather intense, emotionless voice and lends itself nicely to her meandering scientific observations and deadpan (or unintentional) humor. 

The POV shifts from Willow's first person account to an omniscient third person and slightly backwards in time before staying in the "after." The one-sentence  structure is maintained in the third person as well. Upon reflection, all of the folks surrounding Willow are fractured in some way, so this makes a certain sense. 

The descriptive language is astounding - were I highlighting my arc, nearly the entire book would be neon yellow. 

     "The anxious woman leaned on her desk, and her brow   
      knitted into a strange pattern of angled, intersecting lines.

     I felt certain that if I stared long enough, I would find a
     math theory in the woman's forehead.

    But the lines rearranged themselves before I could work
    out the dynamic,..." (p. 36)

The characters are unique, a bit out there and, for the most part, trying their best. Willow changes each and every one. There's Del, the inept school counselor to whom Willow is assigned when an inept school administrator assumes her perfect state test school is due to cheating. There's Mai and her brother Quang-ha, who has anger issues. Willow meets them because Quang-ha's session is just before Willow's. There's Pattie, Mai and Quang-ha's mother, who, with just a few whispered words from Mai, lies to the police and tells them that they are family friends, enabling her to save Willow from going immediately into foster care. 

There's a lot of Quirk here. There are also Plot Contrivances. I've a feeling folks are going to either love or hate this book. I fell in love on page one and decided to stay in love when the snark and the eye rolls occasionally threatened. I even loved the rather happy, slightly unrealistic ending. I let go and went with it because I became invested in Willow immediately despite the fact that I will never, ever again eat dipped ice cream. I stayed invested because Ms. Goldberg Sloan painted a portrait of grief that tore my heart out. I stayed with it for all the little pockets of lovely language and imagery. I stayed with it because I know quite a few Willows. They can be very, very difficult to be around and literature reminds me that there is a story in every Willow.

Please make room for Willow.