Jupiter Rising

Jack Hurd, an adopted eighth-grader, lives with his parents on a family farm in East Sumner, Maine. The novel opens as the family puts down their 34-year-old horse, Quintus Sertorius, who has grown stiff and refuses to eat. Jack's father, Bradley, digs a grave in the horse's favorite spot in the Far Pasture. Jack feeds the horse the last fall apples, kisses him on the nose, and goes inside, where he hears the shot. His three-year-old foster sister, Jupiter, looks up from her blocks and tells him he is crying. When Bradley returns, he sits at the table and says, "Let's not lose anything else" (5).

Jack remembers those words because that same afternoon, Mrs. Stroud from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services arrives without her usual cheerful smile. Jupiter is the daughter of Joseph Brook, Jack's deceased foster brother. Joseph's death devastated Jack, and when the Hurd family began fostering Jupiter, her arrival gave Jack a renewed sense of purpose. The family has spent over a year working through the adoption process. This time, Mrs. Stroud asks Jack to take Jupiter outside while she speaks with his parents. That evening, Bradley delivers the news: Jupiter's maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Joyce, are demanding custody. Although the adoption is underway, it has not been finalized, and as biological grandparents the Joyces have legal standing. Jack is furious, reminding his father that the Joyces previously showed no interest in Jupiter. In the barn, Jack strikes his father across the chest. Bradley absorbs the blow, opens his arms, and holds Jack while he cries. They pledge never to give up.

Intertwined with this crisis, Jack recounts how Coach Swieteck, his sharp-tongued PE teacher who uses a wheelchair, recruited him for cross-country running in December and paired him with older students. Jack's main running partner becomes Jay Perkins, a much taller sophomore whom Jack once fought after Jay and others attacked Joseph. Jay initially orders Jack to stay 50 feet behind and Jack struggles for weeks, vomiting after every run, but he refuses to lose sight of the group. After two hostile teammates quit, Jay gives Jack his old running shoes and they begin running together daily. Jay also starts visiting the house before runs to hold Jupiter, who grabs his ears and rubs noses with him. A genuine bond forms between Jay and the toddler.

The custody fight mobilizes the East Sumner community. Jack's teachers each signal support in quiet, characteristic ways. Mr. Canton, the vice principal who once warned Jack away from Joseph, admits he was wrong and gives Jack the name of his sister, Miss Canton, a lawyer in Augusta who will take the case for free as a debt owed to Joseph. The Joyces make their first court-approved visit to the farm on a muddy Saturday in May. Mrs. Joyce is warm with Jupiter, saying she looks like her deceased mother, Madeleine. Mr. Joyce, however, complains about the mud and, at the granite ridge overlooking the family graveyard where Joseph is buried, mutters "and good riddance" (66) about Joseph, revealing deep hostility.

While Jack's parents are in Augusta meeting with Miss Canton, Jupiter wanders into a storeroom and becomes entangled in barbed wire that tears into her legs. Jack frees her and encounters Jay on the road. Jay wraps his shirt around Jupiter's wounds and drives the family pickup to the hospital, where he claims to be Jupiter's cousin so Jack can accompany her into the examining room. Jack holds Jupiter's gaze while the doctor cleans and stitches her wounds. Shortly afterward, Nick Porter and Brian Boss, Jay's former hostile teammates, menace Jack and Jay with a pickup truck during a run, warning them that things are not over.

A rift opens between Jack and Jay when Jack learns Jay is the Joyces' nephew. Jay reveals that Madeleine was his cousin, his closest relationship in a childhood marked by parental neglect. Only Madeleine championed him, eventually transforming his relationship with her father, Mr. Joyce, who promised to always be on Jay's side. Jack asks Jay to tell Mr. Joyce that Jupiter belongs with the Hurds, arguing Madeleine would want that. Jay does not commit but does not refuse. He joins the family for supper, and when Bradley drives Jay home afterward, they glimpse his neglected house through bare spring branches. Bradley says nothing the whole ride back.

Miss Canton prepares the family for a preliminary hearing, warning that the Joyces' three lawyers and vast resources present a serious threat, and that the barbed wire incident could be used against them. When Bradley asks directly whether they will lose Jupiter, she answers, "It's more than possible that you will" (133). At the Augusta courthouse, Jack waits with Jupiter while the adults enter the courtroom. Afterward, Judge Benedict meets Jack privately. The judge asks Jack to think like a judge and to share his earliest memory. Jack describes sitting on his mother's peppermint-scented lap on Christmas morning, refusing to open presents because he already had everything he wanted. When the judge asks whether Jupiter already has everything she wants, Jack says yes. Leaving the office, Jack senses they are probably going to lose.

Before the ruling arrives, Coach Swieteck pulls Jack from class to tell him Jay was struck from behind by a vehicle while running through Jenny's Notch, a narrow local stretch of road. The impact shattered Jay's left leg, broke his hip, and snapped several ribs. The driver fled. Jay's father did not check on him until noon the next day. Jay pulled himself to the road with a broken hip, where a teacher found him by chance. Jack visits Jay in the hospital and breaks down, weeping for Joseph, for Jupiter, and now for Jay. Two minors are later arrested in connection with the hit-and-run. The next morning, the ruling arrives: The Joyces have won custody.

Jack visits Jay daily as Jay remains motionless for days. One afternoon Jack finds the Joyces at Jay's bedside. Mr. Joyce breaks down in sobs, and Jack, recognizing the grief, sits beside him and holds him. Jack squeezes Jay's hand, and Jay's eyes move beneath his closed lids. A nurse urges Jay to wake. Jay opens his eyes and speaks: "Not a goonie-pie" (183). As Jay recovers, Jack realizes that even if he loses Jupiter, she will always have her cousin Jay.

The family prepares for Jupiter's departure, but the Joyces do not come on the scheduled Saturday. The visit is postponed again each day that week. Meanwhile, Coach Swieteck assigns Jack a new runner to mentor, Petre, a fifth-grader from eastern Europe recently adopted by Ms. Uchida, Jack's music teacher. Coach also reveals that Jay will be moving in with the Joyces, meaning Jack and Jay can eventually resume training together.

The following Saturday, Mrs. Joyce arrives and brings Jupiter to the family graveyard where Jack stands at Joseph's gravestone. She explains that she and Mr. Joyce had long talks with Jay. Jay told them Jupiter is happy, that she will grow up on a farm she loves with a family who loves her, and that Madeleine would want her to stay. He urged them to think about what is best for Jupiter rather than themselves. Mrs. Joyce says that since hearing Jay's words, she and her husband have wondered whether, had they done the same for Madeleine, their daughter might still be alive. Jack whispers that none of it is their fault. Mrs. Joyce asks if she and Mr. Joyce may visit now and then, signaling their decision to relinquish the custody claim.

That night, Jack tucks Jupiter into bed with her stuffed giraffe, Affy-Giraffey, and her stuffed polar bear, Solar. She asks if he is crying. He says yes, but from happiness. Jupiter whispers, "Good night, Jackie goonie-pie," and Jack whispers it back (201). He turns the light low, kisses her good night, and rubs her back as she smiles into sleep.