Orbiting Jupiter Character Analysis

Jack (Jackson) Hurd

Jack Hurd, the narrator of Orbiting Jupiter, is a middle-school boy who lives on an organic farm in Maine with his parents, Mr. Hurd and Mrs. Hurd. When the Hurds decide to foster… read analysis of Jack (Jackson) Hurd

Joseph Brook

Joseph Brook is a 14-year-old boy in Maine’s foster care system. Though reserved and gruff, he also is soft-hearted and intelligent. Prior to his foster placement with the Hurds, Joseph lived with his abusive father… read analysis of Joseph Brook

Mr. Hurd

Mr. Hurd is an organic father who lives in Maine with his wife, Mrs. Hurd, and his 12-year-old son, Jack Hurd. They agree to foster 14-year-old Joseph Brook when social worker Mrs. Stroud… read analysis of Mr. Hurd

Mr. Brook

Mr. Brook is Joseph Brook’s abusive father. A plumber, Mr. Brook brings young adolescent Joseph to work with him in the summers. When Joseph stops going to work with his father to spend time… read analysis of Mr. Brook

Mrs. Hurd

Mrs. Hurd lives on an organic farm in Maine with her husband, Mr. Hurd, and their 12-year-old son, Jack Hurd. She is a former political protestor and was arrested eight times in college… read analysis of Mrs. Hurd

Madeleine “Maddie” Joyce

Madeleine Joyce is Joseph Brook’s first love. They meet when Joseph’s father Mr. Brook, a plumber, is doing work on Madeleine’s rich lawyer parents’ house. Madeleine’s parents, who are rarely home, often leave… read analysis of Madeleine “Maddie” Joyce

Mr. Canton

Mr. Canton is the vice principal of Eastham Middle School, where Jack Hurd and his foster brother, Joseph Brook, attend school. Mr. Canton is prejudiced against Joseph because Joseph came to his foster family… read analysis of Mr. Canton

Mrs. Stroud

Mrs. Stroud is a social worker, employed by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), assigned to eighth-grader Joseph Brook’s case after the rich parents of Joseph’s girlfriend, Madeleine Joyce, take… read analysis of Mrs. Stroud

Mr. D’Ulney

Mr. D’Ulney is a math teacher who teaches at Eastham Middle School, where Jack Hurd and Joseph Brook go to school. After Mr. D’Ulney notices that Joseph is good at math, he gives Joseph extra… read analysis of Mr. D’Ulney

Mrs. Halloway

Mrs. Halloway is the Language Arts teacher at Eastham Middle School. She is initially prejudiced against Joseph Brook because she knows that he attacked a teacher at a juvenile facility before his foster placement with… read analysis of Mrs. Halloway

Jay Perkins

Jay Perkins is an eighth-grade boy at Eastham Middle School. He says something offensive to Joseph Brook about Madeleine Joyce in math class, and Joseph attacks him, choking him. Though math teacher Mr. D’Ulney breaks… read analysis of Jay Perkins

Jupiter

Jupiter is the baby daughter of young teenage parents Joseph Brook and Madeleine Joyce. The state of Maine places her in foster care with a librarian in Brunswick. At the end of the novel… read analysis of Jupiter

Minor Characters

Mr. Haskell

Mr. Haskell is a bus driver at Eastham Middle School who ridicules Joseph for being a teenage father. Joseph and Jack are silently allied against Mr. Haskell throughout the novel, and this helps build trust and friendship between them.

Coach Swieteck

Coach Swieteck is a legless Vietnam veteran who teaches PE at Eastham Middle School, where Jack Hurd and Joseph Brook go to school. Coach Swieteck immediately notices and encourages Joseph’s athletic talent. After Joseph is tragically killed, he is among the few people who attend his funeral.

Reverend Ballou

Reverend Ballou is the pastor at First Congregational Church, where Mr. Hurd and Mrs. Hurd take Jack Hurd and Joseph Brook for Christmas Eve services. After Joseph tragically dies, Reverend Ballou also officiates Joseph’s funeral.

The Librarian

The librarian, who lives and works in Brunswick, is Jupiter’s foster mother. After meeting Joseph Brook, she writes to him regularly about Jupiter.