How would you react if you found out you were part of a cult? In The Book of Jupiter, 13-year-old Ara lives with her family in an isolated community called Jupiter Station. Ara knows to follow the rules laid out in the Book of Jupiter. She has to if she wants to be a part of Father Jupiter’s prophecy and “ascend to the planet Jupiter,” where her family can live together forever. But when her older brother Leo reveals his doubts, Ara must decide what to do, as she starts to realize he may be right.
Robin Stevenson is the award-winning author of more than thirty-five books of fiction and non-fiction for young readers of all ages. The Book of Jupiter, her latest book, invites middle grade readers to think critically, ask questions, and not be afraid to challenge the things adults tell them.
I had the chance to ask Robin about writing The Book of Jupiter and her work advocating for the freedom to read.
I imagine writing a story about a cult for young readers presented quite a challenge! Why did you decide this topic was a good fit for a middle grade audience?
While Ara’s experience of growing up in a cult is obviously an extreme and unusual one, it gave me an opportunity to explore themes that many young readers can relate to. Like Ara, they are at an age when they are figuring out what they believe and where they fit in the world. Some kids, like Ara, grow up in very small boxes, but even the most open-minded families have their own sets of ideas and beliefs—and growing up involves realizing that the world you live in is actually just one small part of a much bigger world. I wanted to explore what happens when a young person begins to question what they have always taken for granted and has to decide for themselves what is true. And of course, I find cults fascinating, and I think many middle school kids will too!
Jupiter Station and the people who live there are fictional but based on the characteristics of real-world cults. How did your research prepare you to write this story?
Reading about cults helped me develop the setting of Jupiter Station: the charismatic leader who dictates what is true, the closed off nature of the community, the strict hierarchy, the distrust in the outside world, the suppression of questioning, and so on. Jupiter Station is entirely fictional and not based on any single real-world cult, but it has similarities to many isolated, authoritarian communities. Research also helped me develop the characters: I read many memoirs and first-hand accounts from people who had been raised in cults, and their stories and insights helped me to imagine the complicated and conflicting feelings of love, loyalty, doubt, guilt and fear that Ara and her brother might experience.
Questioning everything you’ve been taught to believe is an unsettling experience. How did you get inside Ara’s head to write such a convincing character?
I wrote page after page from Ara’s point of view as I tried to feel my way into her head and to see the world through her eyes. Much of that writing didn’t end up in the novel, but my understanding of Ara grew from it, so in a way I think it is still there, in between the lines. I am sure there must be more efficient ways to get inside a character’s head, but this seems to be the one that works best for me: I always get to know my characters by writing about them, seeing how they interact with others, and exploring their thoughts and emotions on the page. I also drew Jupiter Station to help me visualize her world—the map that appears in the book is drawn by the very talented cover artist, Risa Hugo, but is based on the rough sketches I made in my journals while I was writing it.
There are a lot of big ideas in this book about critical thinking and asking questions. What do you hope young readers take away from Ara’s journey?
Young readers are a very diverse bunch, so I imagine they’ll take away lots of different things depending on what they are looking for and what they bring to the book. Mostly I hope they enjoy it! But beyond that, I hope some readers might find Ara’s strength inspiring. She is a girl who was raised never to question and yet does so anyway—and so I hope her story encourages readers to seek answers to their own questions. One twelve-year-old reader wrote to me and said, “I found your book deeply beautiful and philosophical about our beliefs and the world that surrounds us…It gave me an epiphany about truth, and how much it means to me.” I was delighted by this response.
When I think about the books from my own childhood, the ones that have stayed with me are the ones that made me think and feel deeply. My hope is that The Book of Jupiter stays with readers—that is a story that lingers, and maybe one that they’ll return to and read again and take courage from.
Throughout your career, you have been a strong advocate for the freedom to read. Why should young readers be encouraged to read challenging books?
Many young readers have lives that are challenging, in all kinds of ways. For them, encountering characters facing similar challenges in books can be tremendously helpful. And for all young people, fiction is probably the safest possible way to explore difficult ideas and situations. It helps kids learn about the world, explore their own ideas, and develop more awareness and empathy for others. There are many things children should be protected from, but books are not on that list.
In The Book of Jupiter, Ara has access to only a small handful of novels- and when her reading leads to her asking questions, the books are quickly taken away. But even outside a cult setting, many kids have the experience of seeing information constantly filtered and sometimes withheld in the name of protection. And yet children have rights, including the right to access information. I think all kids should be supported to read freely and encouraged to find the stories and knowledge they need.
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Interview by Spencer Miller