Orbiting Jupiter

One of the most beautiful books I have ever read

Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places

Schmidt provokes tears, despite his underplayed prose, with a tone and directness reminiscent of John Steinbeck.

Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times, Children's Book of the Week

A deeply affecting story of love and loss that sympathetically reflects the intensity of adolescence.

Julia Eccleshare, Guardian

Schmidt writes with an elegant simplicity in this paean to the power of love

Kirkus, starred review

A YA novella about love and friendship and loyalty... be prepared to be moved

Martin Chilton, Telegraph, The best young adult books of 2016

Beautiful, tragic and heartbreaking

Guardian, The Best New Children's Books

Schmidt uses beautifully sparse language to tell a big story... This is a punchy and emotional book which will draw you in then spit you out crying at the end.

Scotsman

Tender and deeply moving… This will stay with you long after you have read the final page

Vanessa Lewis, The Bookseller, Bookseller's Choice

I wasn’t expecting Orbiting Jupiter to bring me to my knees, but it’s reassuring to be reminded how a fine piece of storytelling can put me right there

Collete Morgan, Wild Rumpus

In his welcome style of brief beautiful breaths, Gary Schmidt has crafted another moving story

Bookbug

A powerful story about second chances.

Publishers Weekly, starred review

This is Schmidt at his most heartbreaking

Best Books of 2015, Publishers Weekly

The poetic, uncluttered prose of this short beautiful novel resonates for a long time.

BookTrust

Gary has done it again ... a finely crafted book, honest, and above all a story about goodness as well as evil

Kids Ink

This beautifully written and utterly compulsive book will have many a reader in tears.

Marilyn Brocklehurst, The Bookseller, Bookseller's Choice

A remarkable read-in-one-sitting story of friendship, love and the glow of hope that comes from second chances and new life. Joseph’s tragic tale will break your heart, but the tenderness that flows from this flawlessly compact novel will also piece it back together.

Joanne Owen, Lovereading4Kids

Orbiting Jupiter will wring every ounce of feeling it can from you... A shining example of where YA fiction can succeed, and it does so magnificently.

The Bookbag

One of the most moving, profound and well crafted young people's novels that I have ever had the privilege of reviewing

The School Librarian

Gary D. Schmidt has written this highly-thoughtful, compelling page-turner with a deceptive simplicity... Despite the unintended yet tragic consequences, it reaffirms the power of love when labels are set aside for humanity and acceptance.

Carousel

The simple style is very effective at conveying high emotion... Quality teen fare.

Peters Books

Such a brilliant, well written and beautiful book.

Bethan Woollvin, author and illustrator

Beautiful, sad, haunting... An emotional ride but one you'll still be thinking of long after you've closed the book.

ReadingZone

This is one of those books that creeps up on you and steals your heart.

Serendipity Reviews

This is a phenomenal book. One of the best-crafted, most heartrending novels I’ve read this year... the prose is stark, impeccable, faultless.

MinervaReads

I smiled, I shed tears and I felt so much love for these characters... Simplistic and beautiful.

Tales of Yesterday blog

Orbiting Jupiter is a beautiful and sad story about friendship, love and family, and at under two hundred pages, it packs a powerful emotional punch.

So Many Books, So Little Time blog