Jupiter and her family have spent their lives on the road, moving from town to town in a trusty old van and earning their living by playing music for tourists. But when their van breaks down, Jupiter’s mother rents an actual house in Portland for the summer so Jupiter’s annoying cousin Edom, recently adopted from Ethiopia, can stay with them. Luckily, Edom doesn’t want to be in Portland any more than Jupiter wants her there, and the two hatch a Grand Plan to send Edom back to her mother. In the process, Jupiter learns that community and family aren’t always what you expect them to be.
A sweet, genuine story with themes of community, immigration, finances, family, and taking care of the environment that will appeal to fans of Cynthia Lord and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.
Jane Kurtz knows a lot about moving. She was born in Portland, Oregon, but when she was two years old her parents moved their family to Ethiopia to work for the Presbyterian Church there. Jane Kurtz is the author of novels, picture books, and chapter books. After living in North Dakota (where she survived a natural disaster), Colorado, Illinois, and Kansas, she moved back to Portland, Oregon, where she now lives with her husband, the Reverend Leonard L. Goering, H.R.