The Jumping Off Place

This 1930 Newbery Honor Book relates an exciting tale of adventure in which four orphaned children head for the South Dakota prairie, where they battle drought, squatters, and other challenges.

Maria lifted her hand to knock, but stopped when she heard a woman speaking. "Pastor, I met the most pathetic-looking girl yesterday," the voice said. "Where was that?" "Here at the church . . ." Maria felt her face burning with shame. She had fallen into disgrace, but not far enough to endure the term "pathetic." * * * "Did you come to the Ladies' Aid Meeting?" the woman asked. "Yeah. I came for aid," Maria answered, trying to control the bitterness in her voice. "I came for aid yesterday, but you asked me to eat and I did. I came again today to see if you needed a janitor to clean the church, but I know you don't, so I'll leave." * * * Maria Grant feels she at her wit's end-hungry, weary, and bedraggled-all for the love of a boy. Why did she leave her loving family to be near Orville? He didn't care one iota for her. She had sunk so low, all because of Orville.

This 1930 Newbery Honor Book relates an exciting tale of adventure in which four orphaned children head for the South Dakota prairie, where they battle drought, squatters, and other challenges.

A trip to the Moon? Sounds like the perfect family vacation. Only, for 13-year-old Charles "Chigger" Dingillian, life is anything but perfect. His parents fight so much, they put the "dis" into dysfunctional. His brothers, Stinky and Weird, are impossible to get along with. And his neighborhood is a down-trodden tunnel community on Earth. It's supposed to be a short vacation—a trip up the Line, Earth's space elevator, and then home again. Halfway there, Chigger hits on a plan: if his parents can't find a way to work things out, why not just divorce them? The idea sounds crazy . . . until it works. But Chigger soon realizes he has much bigger problems: The people they meet on the Moon seem overly friendly and way too interested in his family. Suddenly, the quick pleasure trip takes a detour into danger as Chigger suspects they are targets of an interstellar manhunt. Their only hope may be to jump off the planet.

Tells, from four points of view, the ramifications of a pregnancy resulting from a "one-time thing" between Ellie, who feels loved when boys touch her, and Josh, an eager virgin with a troubled home life.