The Planet Of Junior Brown (2006)
by Virginia Hamilton

This is a reprint of the original 1971 edition.

Junior Brown, an overprotected three-hundred pound musical prodigy who’s prone to having fantasies, and Buddy Clark, a loner who lives by his wits because he has no family whatsoever, have been on the hook from their eighth-grade classroom all semester.

Most of the time they have been in the school building — in a secret cellar room behind a false wall, where Mr. Pool, the janitor, has made a model of the solar system. They have been pressing their luck for months…and then they are caught. As society — in the form of a zealous assistant principal — closes in on them, Junior’s fantasies become more desperate, and Buddy draws on all his resources to ensure his friend’s well-being.

• 1972 1973 Mark Twain Awards - nomination
• 1971 Horn Book fanfare book
• 1972 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award - winner
• 1972 Newbery Medal - honor
• 1997 A film, adapted from the novel, was released