Orbiting Jupiter

Thirteen-year-old Joseph meets, falls in love with, and impregnates his teenage girlfriend, but when she dies in childbirth he is placed in a juvenile facility and the baby in foster care. At 14 he is placed with a caring foster family, but Joseph is traumatized by the forced separation from his daughter and the death of his girlfriend, and tries to find a way to be with his new daughter. This thoughtful and engaging novel for grades 8-12 examines young love and its potential consequences, teen pregnancy from the perspective of a young father, socio-economic injustice, and the complexities of rural teenage life in a close-minded and somewhat cloistered community.