Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt
This is one of the books on the consideration list for the 2017 TAYSHAS list. Honestly, I am a little surprised, as the lexile can't be that high; it reads like junior high books. Theoretically, the subject matter could be the reason why it is nominated for the high school list, but seeing as there is nothing graphic, I feel it belongs on the Lone Star list instead. Additionally, this book is less than 150 pages, and I don't think I have ever read a TAYSHAS book that was that short.
This story is told by Jack, a twelve year old boy whose parents are foster parents. They have agreed to take in a fourteen year old boy, Joseph, who is coming out of, what sounds like, juvenile hall. He was in there because he had a breakdown of sorts, and tried to kill a teacher. And, oh yeah-he has a daughter.
As I said, Joseph has had a rough life. His real dad is a bit on the unsavory side, which is why Joseph is sent to live with a foster family. This doesn't, however, stop his father from trying to take him back. Joseph doesn't want to go with his father. All he really wants is to see his daughter. His foster family tries to help with that, but it doesn't quite work out. Joseph ends up running away to try to find her.
I don't want to reveal more than this. To do so would give away the whole story, which I don't like to do. This book will break your heart though, so be prepared. Maybe have some tissues nearby.
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