Best Selling Books by Gary D. Schmidt

As they are pursued by greedy villains, two boys on a quest to save innocent lives meet the banished queen whose son was stolen by Rumpelstiltskin eleven years earlier, and she provides much more than the answer they seek.

The two-time Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt delivers the shattering story of Joseph, a father at thirteen, who 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 Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. In this riveting novel, two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires.

The pilgrim Christian undertakes the dangerous journey to the Celestial City, experiencing physical and spiritual obstacles along the way.

In this poignant, perceptive, witty novel, Gary D. Schmidt brings authenticity and emotion to multiple plot strands, weaving in themes of grief, loss, redemption, achievement, and love. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene''s Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school''s traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students from wealthy backgrounds. In a parallel story, Matt Coffin has wound up on the Maine coast near St. Elene''s with a pillowcase full of money lifted from the leader of a criminal gang, fearing the gang''s relentless, destructive pursuit. Both young people gradually dispel their loneliness, finding a way to be hopeful and also finding each other.

He was just a farm boy. Why was someone out to get him?

2011 National Book Award Finalist As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer—a fiery young lady who “smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain.” In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.

When Jack''s P.E. coach pairs him up with Jay Perkins for the cross-country team, neither of them is happy about it. Jack is grieving the loss of Joseph, his foster brother, and adjusting to his role as big brother to Jupiter, Joseph’s orphaned daughter. Dealing with Jay Perkins—who''d once ganged up with his buddies to jump Joseph in the locker room—is the last thing he wants to do. But then Jack realizes that Jay is grieving too—the loss of his cousin Maddie, Jupiter’s mom. As Jack''s relationships with both Jay and Jupiter grow and his running improves, he starts to feel more like himself than he has since Joseph died. He''s finding his stride . . . until Maddie’s parents, who have never shown interest in their granddaughter before, decide to claim Jupiter as their own, blocking Jack’s family from adopting her. And suddenly Jack’s past and present smash together, threatening to dissolve both his newfound confidence and his friendships. This poignant, powerful companion to Orbiting Jupiter is Gary D. Schmidt at his best. He is the author of the Printz Honor and Newbery Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; Okay for Now, a National Book Award finalist; and The Wednesday Wars, a Newbery Honor Book, among many acclaimed novels for young readers.

During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker''s classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns muchof value about the world he lives in.

Ethan eagerly anticipates making maple syrup with his father, but it will not be time until the days are warmer, the nights shorter, and Ethan''s loose tooth falls out.

Sixth-grader Carter must adjust to the unwelcome presence of a know-it-all butler who is determined to help him become a gentleman, and also to deal with burdens from the past.

A testament to the power of stories, and how they may bring hope even in times of darkness. "Everyone gathers around, and from her lips to their ears the stories go, and for a little while the camp disappears, and for a little while they are all free." As night falls, the women gather their children to listen to Mara tell her stories. They are stories of light and hope and freedom, stories of despair and stories of miracles, stories of expected pain and stories of unexpected joy--all told in the darkness of the concentration camp barracks. Through extensive research noted in the back of the book, Gary Schmidt has skillfully woven together stories from such sources as the Jewish religious scholar, Martin Buber, Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel; and folklorists, Steve Zeitlin and Yaffa Eliach. Combining lore of the past with tales born in the concentration camps, Mara''s stories speak to us from a time that must never be forgotten.

Turner Buckminster is purely miserable. Not only is he the son of the new minister in a small Maine town, but he is shunned for playing baseball differently from the local boys.

It takes one smart sheep to escape from a piano movers'' van and find his way home in this humorous friendship story for emerging and newly independent readers by beloved, award-winning author Gary D. Schmidt and coauthor Elizabeth Stickney. Wilson is a curious sheep, and after he foolishly climbs into the back of a piano movers'' truck, he ends up alone in the big city, far from the farm. But Wilson is also one smart sheep, and soon enough he''s finding his way home to his worried owner by recognizing the sounds that he heard while he was trapped in the truck--a jackhammer, a calliope, a hotdog man. And could that be the excited barking of his friend Tippy, the border collie? This lighthearted story about loyalty, problem solving, friendship, and independence is divided into short, action-packed chapters and has the cozy feel of a modern classic.

On a short winter day, Samuel and his father enter into a series of trades with neighbors and strangers until they come home with a brown-eyed milk cow for Mama.

Shows how the hardships of slavery, particularly the loss of her family, caused Isabella Baumfree to walk towards freedom, to re-invent herself as Sojourner Truth, and to continue walking to abolish slavery and for other reforms.

"Katherine Paterson is the consummate storyteller, a crafter of tales in which characters must deal with the most elemental hopes and fears in settings - be it a Chesapeake Bay island or the mountains of China - that are alternately blissful and beatific, terrifying and desperate. In a sensitive analysis of the novels and stories of this award-winning children''s author, Gary D. Schmidt finds that Paterson is, in a subtle way, a didactic writer, informed by her hopeful and ethical vision of the future." "Here is a writer, Schmidt argues, who does not shy away from horrendous topics - unwanted foster children, the death of a schoolchild''s best friend, rape, murder, political intrigue, religious mania, and war. He finds that Paterson''s books - among them the National Book Award-winning Master Puppeteer (1976) and The Great Gilly Hopkins (1978) and the Newberry Award-winning Bridge to Terabithia (1977) and Jacob Have I Loved (1980) - are successful when the reader journeys with the author through distressing situations and then arrives, in a moment of grace, at a place of spiritual enlightenment." "Paterson''s characters, Schmidt argues, search for fathers, for families, for love and acceptance, for themselves, they recall the characters of Flannery O''Connor, who also find themselves caught in moments of distress and then find, like Paterson''s characters, moments of grace. As Schmidt shows, that moment may come in the building of a bridge or in coming to understand the implications of a carol or poem or in resolving to live a life of burdens shared." "Schmidt begins this study with a biographical essay about Paterson''s life, drawn from her own essays as well as from an interview with her he conducted at her home in Barre, Vermont. In the balance of the book he addresses her copious work, beginning with her early historical fiction and proceeding on to the novels that explore her major themes - of the plight of prodigal children and the search for true family. Later chapters examine Paterson''s more recent historical fiction and her retelling of folk tales." "Throughout his discussion Schmidt focuses on the stories'' elements of hope, for, as Paterson has said in a National Book Award acceptance speech, she wants to be "a spy for hope." Schmidt''s lucid study brings readers a closer understanding of this remarkable "spy.""--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

“Henry Smith’s father told him that if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you.” But Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry’s older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin’s preparatory school, and the accident sparks racial tensions in the school—and in the well-established town where Henry’s family has lived for generations. Caught between anger and grief, Henry sets out to do the only thing he can think of: climb Mt. Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine, which he and Franklin were going to climb together. Along with Black Dog, whom Henry has rescued from drowning, and a friend, Henry leaves without his parents’ knowledge. The journey, both exhilarating and dangerous, turns into an odyssey of discovery about himself, his older sister, Louisa, his ancestry, and why one can never escape from Trouble.

In these hilarious stories by some of the top authors of middle grade fiction today, each young character is coping with a minor superpower—while also discovering their power to change themselves and their community, find their voice, and celebrate what makes them unique. The kids in these humorous short stories each have a minor superpower they’re learning to live with. One can shape-shift—but only part of her body, and only on Mondays. Another can always tell whether an avocado is perfectly ripe. One can even hear the thoughts of the animals in the pet store! But what these stories are really about is their young protagonists “owning” a power that contributes to their individuality, that allows them to find their place in the world, that shows them a potential they might not have imagined. Because if you really think about it, we all have something special and unique about ourselves that makes us a little bit super. We all have the power to change as an individual, to change our communities for the better, to have a voice and to speak up. These playful, thought-provoking tales from some of today’s top middle grade authors prompt readers to consider what their own superpower might be, and how they can use it. Written by Pablo Cartaya, Nikki Grimes, Leah Henderson, Jarrett Krosoczka, Remy Lai, Kyle Lukoff, Meg Medina, Daniel Nayeri, Linda Sue Park, Mitali Perkins, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Gary D. Schmidt, Brian Young, and Ibi Zoboi; coedited by Leah Henderson and Gary D. Schmidt.

From award-winning author Gary D. Schmidt, a warm and witty novel in the tradition of The Wednesday Wars, in which a seventh grader has to figure out how to fulfill an assignment to perform the Twelve Labors of Hercules in real life—and makes discoveries about friendship, community, and himself along the way. 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.

Making Americans is a study of a time when the authors and illustrators of children''s books consciously set their eyes on national and international sights, with the hope of bringing the next generation into a full sense of citizenship. Schmidt examines the literature for young people published during a momentous period in our nation''s past, and documents in detail its role as an instrument of nation-building and social reform. A thought-provoking contribution to our understanding of children''s books as cultural transmitters and transformers.

Leaving behind a prosperous life in England, William Bradford and the other Pilgrims traveled on the Mayflower to a strange land in search of religious freedom. There Bradford established a stable colony, trying to be fair to both the colonists and the local Native Americans.

2013 Pura Belpre Award for Illustration As the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a former slave, Martin de Porres was born into extreme poverty. Even so, his mother begged the church fathers to allow him into the priesthood. Instead, Martin was accepted as a servant boy. But soon, the young man was performing miracles. Rumors began to fly around the city of a strange mulatto boy with healing hands, who gave first to the people of the barrios. Martin continued to serve in the church, until he was finally received by the Dominican Order, no longer called the worthless son of a slave, but rather a saint and the rose in the desert.

Celia Thaxter grew up on a desolate island off the coast of Maine, where her father worked as lighthouse keeper. Amid the white and gray of the sea, the rocks, and even the birds, young Celia found color where she could: green mosses and purple starfish and pink morning glories by the shore. And she planted her first garden, tucking bright marigolds between rocky ledges. When she was twelve, Celia''s family moved to nearby Appledore Island, where her father built a large hotel, and Celia planted a bigger, ever-growing garden with nearly sixty types of flowers, from asters to wisteria.

Beautifully illustrated, In God''s Hand tells the charming story of two men who discover that God indeed works through human hands--Even Theirs--in unexpected and miraculous ways.

In a desperate attempt for survival, a peaceful civilization on a faraway planet besieged by a dark lord sends its most precious gift across the cosmos into the lunchbox of Tommy Pepper, sixth grader, of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In a literary environment dominated by men, the first American to earn a living as a writer and to establish a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic was, miraculously, a woman. Hannah Adams dared to enter--and in some ways was forced to enter--a sphere of literature that had, in eighteenth-century America, been solely a male province. Driven by poverty and necessity, and aided by an extraordinarily adept mind and keen sense of business, Adams authored works on New England history, sectarian history, and Jewish history, using and citing the most recent scholarly works being published in Great Britain and America. As a female writer, she would always remain something of an outsider, but her accomplishments did not by any means go unrecognized: embraced by the Boston intelligentsia and highly regarded throughout New England, Adams came to epitomize the possibility in a democratic society that anyone could rise to a circle of intellectual elites. In A Passionate Usefulness, the first book-length biography of this remarkable figure, Gary Schmidt focuses primarily on the intimate connection between Adams''s reading and her own literary work. Hers is the story of incipient scholarship in the new nation, the story of a dependence that evolved into intellectual independence. Schmidt sets Adams''s works in the context of her early poverty and desperate family situation, her decade-long feud with one of New England''s most powerful Calvinist ministers, her alliance with the budding Unitarian movement in Boston, and her work establishing the first evangelical mission to Palestine (a task she accomplished virtually single-handedly). Today Adams still holds a place not only as a female writer who made her way economically in the book business before any other woman--or male writer--could do so, but also as a key figure in the transitional generation between the American Revolution and the Renaissance upon whose groundwork much of the country''s later literature would build.

While serving as a British Fencible to maintain the peace in eighteenth-century Ireland, Anson finds that his sympathy for a hedge master places him in conflict with the law of King George II.

The hell mouth was an almost perfect coalescence of these very diverse images.

"A preeminent writer and illustrator of children''s books, Robert Lawson (1892-1957) is the only figure within children''s literature to have won both the Caldecott and Newbery medals. Over the course of his thirty-year career, Lawson illustrated nearly fifty books by others, and wrote and illustrated some twenty books of his own. His role in defining the style of children''s literature at mid-century was pivotal. Lawson''s illustrations capture character and quirks with great humor and expressiveness; his prose reflects solid American values of liberty, courage, and hard work and inventively combines elements of history, fantasy, realism, and autobiography." "In Robert Lawson - the first book-length treatment of its subject - Gary D. Schmidt argues that Lawson deserves continuing attention for two reasons: his ability to push literary genres to their limits and his influence on later illustrators in the realm of children''s literature. Arranging his presentation by genre, Schmidt inspects the autobiographical works, in which Lawson used personal reminiscence and picture-book format to tell the story of his own family; historical fantasies, a genre Lawson created by using as story narrator the imagined pets of figures like Ben Franklin and Paul Revere; the renowned Rabbit Hill volumes, incorporating realism, fantasy, and autobiography and advocating tolerance; and the "whimsical nonsense tales," in which Lawson merged the realistic and the fantastical to create priceless works of entertainment." "Separate chapters are devoted to Lawson''s collaborative endeavors and to his last book, 1957''s The Great Wheel, to appraise its melding of form and message. In even-handed fashion Schmidt addresses, too, the works that are dated, inaccessible, or ill-conceived and the ones that treat African Americans in a harsh light. Serving to elucidate the discussions throughout are plentiful reproductions of Lawson''s artwork." "The only extant study to assess all the works of a gifted writer-illustrator, Robert Lawson makes an ideal supplement for courses in children''s literature, children''s illustration, and the teaching of reading."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

After Cole''s mother dies, he and his father go to live with his mother''s parents in tiny Albion, New Hampshire. The Emersons make it easier for Cole to cope -- but he is helpless in the face of his father''s depression. So Cole turns to Albion itself, and its history. Can the old stories help him handle the present? Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

"Hugh Lofting (1886-1947) is best known for his classic series of children''s books depicting Doctor Dolittle - the kindhearted, eccentric veterinarian whose ability to converse with animals and whose astounding travels with a cadre of critters have delighted readers for more than 70 years. Beginning with The Story of Doctor Dolittle in 1920, Lofting went on to write eleven other Dolittle books, among them the Newbery Medal-winning The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. While critics have praised the Dolittle books for their humor, wit, and imagination, and while the Dolittle character has captivated audiences in screen and stage adaptations, Lofting''s larger message - one concerning issues of peace and justice - has often been overlooked." "That Lofting''s work deserves reconsideration is the thesis of this new study by Gary D. Schmidt. Drawing on not only extensive research but also numerous personal communications with Lofting''s family members, Schmidt provides fresh insights into his subject''s life and work. In clear, engaging prose Schmidt argues that Lofting viewed his writing as a political and moral task: to encourage peace by providing children with examples of kindness, gentleness, compassion, and tolerance." "In an illuminating first chapter readers learn intriguing biographical information - for instance, that The Story of Doctor Dolittle, perhaps Lofting''s greatest work, had its beginnings in a series of story-letters that Lofting, writing from the trenches of World War I, sent home to his children. Subsequent chapters examine each of the Dolittle books, as well as Lofting''s lesser-known works, among them the essay "Children and Internationalism" and the long poem Victory for the Slain." "An important addition to existing studies in children''s literature, Hugh Lofting will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers alike. Included are a preface, chronology, notes, bibliography, and index, as well as illustrations."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

After injuring his hand, a silversmith''s apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution.

"Jack, 12, tells the gripping story of Joseph, 14, who joins his family as a foster child. Damaged in prison, Joseph wants nothing more than to find his baby daughter, Jupiter, whom he has never seen. When Joseph has begun to believe he''ll have a future, he is confronted by demons from his past that force a tragic sacrifice"--