Jupiter Rising

Jupiter Rising is a companion novel to Orbiting Jupiter. Jack's P.E. coach pairs him with Jay Perkins for the cross-country team, and neither boy is pleased. Jack is grieving his foster brother Joseph, and he is also learning to be a big brother to Jupiter, Joseph's orphaned daughter. Jay once joined a group of friends who jumped Joseph in the locker room, so working with him is the last thing Jack wants.

Then Jack realizes that Jay is grieving too. Jay has lost his cousin Maddie, Jupiter's mother. As Jack grows closer to both Jay and Jupiter, and as his running improves, he begins to feel more like himself than he has since Joseph died.

That progress is threatened when Maddie's parents, who have never shown any interest in their granddaughter, decide to claim Jupiter. Their claim blocks Jack's family from adopting her. Jack's past and present collide, putting both his new confidence and his friendships at risk.

Gary D. Schmidt also wrote Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, a Printz Honor and Newbery Honor Book, Okay for Now, a National Book Award finalist, and The Wednesday Wars, a Newbery Honor Book.