THE BOOK OF JUPITER

Thirteen-year-old Ara, who lives within the fenced-in compound of Jupiter Station, believes that people become stardust when they die and that the outside world is a source of danger.

Ara’s days are governed by Father Jupiter’s strict Purity codes and expectations for hard work. But when a friendly girl around her age appears across the river from Jupiter Station, Ara can’t stop imagining what it would be like to have a friend, even as she remembers dire warnings from the Book of Jupiter about outsiders. A new arrival named Dia confides in Ara that her “before name” was Maria Estrada and that she has Doubts about some of the community’s beliefs. Ara’s 16-year-old brother, Leo, who’s grown close to Dia, also starts to express questions and concerns about the way they live. An initially resistant Ara begins collecting forbidden scraps of information “like a crow hoarding stolen treasures.” As Father Jupiter’s visions grow harsher and punishments escalate, Ara must decide what it means to be a loyal member of the family. Stevenson excels at conveying the cognitive dissonance Ara experiences—a complex blend of comfort, affection, and fear. Propulsive pacing and humane characterization make this unsettling story believable and hard to forget. The cosmic imagery lends the setting an eerie beauty, and the menace escalates without losing sight of the grief and guilt that accompanies questioning everything you’ve been taught to believe. Father Jupiter, Ara, and Leo are cued white.

A compassionate, harrowing page-turner.