Orbiting Jupiter: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

As Mr. Hurd and Jack drive out of Eastham, it begins to snow hard. They don’t see Joseph on the road, and after 45 minutes, they turn around. By the time they get home, Mrs. Hurd has called Mrs. Stroud, who has notified the police. Evidently the police notified the school: Mr. Canton came by the house and told Mrs. Hurd that the Hurds shouldn’t blame themselves—kids like Joseph from Stone Mountain do things like this. Mrs. Hurd tells Mr. Hurd and Jack that she wanted to whack Mr. Canton with a pan.

Mr. Hurd, Mrs. Hurd, and Jack wait for a call and worry about Joseph. Late in the evening, Jack goes to his bedroom and looks out the window but can’t see Jupiter. He wonders whether Joseph knows that he’ll never get Madeleine or Jupiter back. He speculates that Joseph knows but headed to Brunswick anyway.

The next morning, Mrs. Stroud calls and says that no one has found Joseph. Jack skips school to wait at home for news. The day after that, Mrs. Stroud calls again with no news. Mr. Hurd asks Mrs. Hurd, who is holding the phone, to tell Mrs. Stroud that they are thinking of going to Brunswick. When Mrs. Hurd does, Mrs. Stroud tries to dissuade them and suggests that they’re getting too emotionally involved in Joseph’s case. Mrs. Hurd hangs up on her and announces that they’re going to Brunswick.

On the drive to Brunswick, Mr. Hurd stops everywhere Joseph might have sought shelter, and Mrs. Hurd shows people a photo of Joseph. At a Baptist church near Lewiston, a pastor tells them that he found Joseph sheltering in the church the previous morning. The pastor gave Joseph breakfast and asked for his parents’ number. When the pastor went to call the number, he reached a real estate agent, and when he went back to talk to Joseph, he found that Joseph had vanished. He asks Joseph’s real name and Jack’s name. When Jack responds “Joseph Brook” and “Jack,” the pastor says he’ll pray for Joseph and “Jack Brook.” When Mrs. Hurd explains that’s not Jack’s name, the pastor asks whether Jack isn’t Joseph’s brother. Jack replies, “I have his back.”

The Hurds don’t meet anyone else who has seen Joseph on the way to Brunswick. When they reach Brunswick, Jack suggests they split up. Mr. Hurd agrees, giving Jack Joseph’s photo. After 90 minutes of searching, Jack is freezing. He spies a library, heads inside, and shows Joseph’s photo to some librarians. One librarian asks why Joseph came to Brunswick. When Jack explains that Joseph is looking for his daughter Jupiter, the librarian—clearly startled—asks whether Joseph is Jupiter’s father, remarking that Joseph is “just a baby himself.”

Jack, realizing that the librarian knows where Jupiter is, begs her to let Joseph see his daughter. The librarian asks who Jack is, and Jack says, “I have [Joseph’s] back.” The librarian suggests that a meeting might be bad for Joseph and Jupiter. She says that Joseph needs to accept that he and Jupiter are not going to reunite permanently because he doesn’t have the resources to care for her. Jack retorts that Joseph can love Jupiter. The librarian, on the verge of tears, agrees. But if Joseph loves Jupiter, the librarian insists, then he needs to let her have the good life a “new home” can offer her.

Jack asks whether the librarian is Jupiter’s foster mother. She asks Jack to tell Joseph that Jupiter is well but needs a permanent family, which Joseph and Mr. Brook should let her have. Jack—who knows that Joseph would be furious if Jack told him that—asks the librarian to tell Jupiter that Joseph loves her and tried to find her. The librarian agrees.

Jack, holding back tears, is walking away when the librarian’s phone rings. She answers it, asks someone to describe “him,” and then identifies “him” as Jupiter’s father. When she hangs up, Jack asks whether Joseph is at her house. She says that her husband just told her Joseph has been pacing around outside and asks whether he and Jack coordinated their approaches. Jack denies it and says that he and the librarian should leave now. The librarian says that she’s going to leave—but Jack should go home. Jack insists that he “has [Joseph’s] back.” The librarian grudgingly agrees to take Jack. When she asks whether he minds that she’ll drive, he admits that he’s 12. 

On the drive, the librarian gives Jack ground rules: he needs to stay in the car, not intervene when they reach her house, and contact his parents as soon as they’ve found Joseph. When they pull into the librarian’s driveway, Joseph is outside. The librarian gets out of the car and talks to Joseph, who shakes his head repeatedly. Shortly afterward, two policemen show up. One policeman touches Joseph’s arm, and Joseph quickly backs away. When the policeman advances on Joseph, the librarian holds up a hand, says something to Joseph and the policemen, and rushes into her house. She comes out with a photo, gives it to Joseph, and walks Joseph to her car.

The librarian opens one of her car doors and asks Joseph to get in, telling him it’s the best she can do right now. Joseph asks Jack why he’s there. When Jack explains that he was looking for Joseph, Joseph smiles, gets in the car, and shows Jack the photo of Jupiter. The librarian drives the boys to where Jack parted from his parents: Mr. Hurd and Mrs. Hurd are still there, searching. When Joseph gets out of the librarian’s car, the Hurds rush to him and hug him.

The librarian hugs Joseph, too. She tells him that he looks like Jupiter and has her “determined” personality. When the librarian says that her family is taking excellent care of Jupiter, Joseph replies, “I’m her father.” The librarian promises to write to Joseph and to tell Jupiter all about Joseph. On the drive home with the Hurds, Joseph is silent. That night in his and Jack’s shared bedroom, Joseph—standing at the window with Jupiter’s photo—says to Jack, “you still have my back.” Jack agrees. Joseph thanks him.