Meet the Author

Gary D. Schmidt is an American author who writes both young adult and children's novels. He is an English professor at Calvin University while living in nearby Alto, Michigan. He attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as Gordon College. He has written or been involved with over 30 books, Orbiting Jupiter being one of his most popular. For a few of his other stories, he has won awards such as "the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and the Newbery Honor book The Wednesday Wars," according to HMH Books. Schmidt has been nominated for 5 other honors beyond these. Orbiting Jupiter is different from this author's usual experience, as this plot just "came to him," he tells bookpage.com, compared to the usual days long struggle to develop a storyline. This book will jerk those tear ducts for sure, which is also cause for its popularity. If you wish to share your emotions with Gary himself, or just ask him a question, below is your chance to do so!