The Quill & The Cross

Gary D. Schmidt is one of my favorite authors: he writes powerful realistic fiction for tweens and teens. Some of his books build on others, some are standalones, but here is my suggested order for you to read his books. (Note: I have read the majority of his works, but there are still a few I haven’t read yet. These are his most popular tween/teen works.)

1. The Wednesday Wars

From the publisher: “Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood isn’t happy. He is sure his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Throughout the school year, Holling strives to get a handle on the Shakespeare plays Mrs. Baker assigns him to read on his own time, and to figure out the enigmatic Mrs. Baker. At home, Holling’s domineering father is obsessed with his business image and disregards his family. As the Vietnam War turns lives upside down, Holling comes to admire and respect both Shakespeare and Mrs. Baker, who have more to offer him than he imagined. And when his family is on the verge of coming apart, he also discovers his loyalty to his sister, and his ability to stand up to his father when it matters most.”

A few of Gary D. Schmidt’s books are companion novels to each other (although they could all be standalones), and The Wednesday Wars starts off that series. It’s a great introduction to his books!

2. Okay For Now

From the publisher: “At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this absorbing novel centers on Doug, 14, who has an abusive father, a bully for a brother, a bad reputation, and shameful secrets to keep. Teachers and police and his relatives think he’s worthless, and he believes them, holding others at arm’s length. Newly arrived in town, he starts out on the same path—antagonizing other kids, mouthing off to teachers, contemptuous of everything intimidating or unfamiliar. Who would have thought that the public library would turn out to be a refuge and an inspiration, that a snooty librarian might be a friend, or that snarky redheaded Lil would like him—really like him? With more than his share of pain, including the return of his oldest brother from the Vietnam War, shattered and angry, will Doug find anything better than “okay for now”?”

This was my first Gary D. Schmidt book, but it takes place immediately after the events of The Wednesday Wars. They can all be read separate, but if you want to keep track of the events and the characters, this would be your next read!

3. Just Like That

From the publisher: “Just Like That is a poignant historical fiction novel that intertwines the lives of Meryl Lee Kowalski, who is grieving her best friend’s death at a Maine boarding school, and Matt Coffin, a boy running from a violent criminal past. Set in 1968, the story explores themes of grief, friendship, and social class, ultimately delivering a hopeful tale of healing.”

Just Like That may be my favorite Gary D. Schmidt novel. It takes place after Okay For Now, involving some of the same characters, and it is absolutely incredible.

4. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

From the publisher: “It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in town will let him forget that he’s a minister’s son, even if he doesn’t act like one. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves. Despite his father’s-and the town’s-disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time with Lizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mystery and wonder of Maine’s rocky coast. The two soon discover that the town elders, along with Turner’s father, want to force the people to leave Lizzie’s island so that Phippsburg can start a lucrative tourist trade there. Turner gets caught up in a spiral of disasters that alter his life-but also lead him to new levels of acceptance and maturity.”

This book is both heartbreaking and hopeful: it’s completely separate from the first three books, taking place during the early 1900s. It’s one of his saddest works, and yet it’s so beautiful!

5. The Labors of Hercules Beal

From the publisher: “Herc Beal knows who he’s named after—a mythical hero—but he’s no superhero. He’s the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercules’s amazing feats in real life, he’s skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod—and not a single Hydra in sight. Missing his parents terribly and wishing his older brother wasn’t working all the time, Herc figures out how to take his first steps along the road that the great Hercules himself once walked. Soon, new friends, human and animal, are helping him. And though his mythical role model performed his twelve labors by himself, Herc begins to see that he may not have to go it alone.”

I love Herc Beal as the main character in this one: he’s so relatable as the narrator. There’s a couple characters you’ll recognize from the first three books too…

6. Pay Attention, Carter Jones

From the publisher: “Carter Jones is astonished early one morning when he finds a real English butler, bowler hat and all, on the doorstep – one who stays to help the Jones family, which is a little bit broken. In addition to figuring out middle school, Carter has to adjust to the unwelcome presence of this new know-it-all adult in his life and navigate the butler’s notions of decorum. And ultimately, when his burden of grief and anger from the past can no longer be ignored, Carter learns that a burden becomes lighter when it is shared.”

Pay Attention, Carter Jones takes us to the present day, and it is hilarious, witty, and still incredibly deep. The dynamic between Carter and the butler is so funny, and it’s definitely more lighthearted than #4…

7. Orbiting Jupiter

From the publisher: “Joseph, a father at thirteen, has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. After spending time in a juvenile facility, he’s placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. When Jack meets his new foster brother, he knows three things about him: Joseph almost killed a teacher, he was incarcerated at a place called Stone Mountain, and he has a daughter. Her name is Jupiter. And he has never seen her. What Jack doesn’t know, at first, is how desperate Joseph is to find his baby girl. Or how urgently he, Jack, will want to help. But the past can’t be shaken off.  Even as new bonds form, old wounds reopen. The search for Jupiter demands more from Jack than he can imagine.”

This book is powerful. It deals with some really deep topics, and yet we see it all through the eyes of Jack, a young boy who desperately wants to help his foster brother. You’ll be thinking about this book for a long time after you finish!

8. Jupiter Rising

I can’t include a synopsis for this one. It ruins the story of the first one. 😉

This book picks off right where Jupiter Rising ended, and it’s just as incredible as the first. They’re both short books, but they pack a powerful punch.