Life in Jed's junkyard is fast paced, humorous and is concerned with the question of where Jed's parents go, and who his grandfather is. Perfect book for middle grade steampunk.

Jed lives an unusual life. His parents put him into harrowing situations just to train him to handle those situations with self-reliance. Then, he finds that overnight his life has been overturned, that his parents have either fled or been abducted, and that he comes from another world entirely.

In this other world, everyone lives by collecting and trading in junk that falls from a mysterious sources in the sky. Jed must search out his parents or his mysterious grandfather in this other world that he reaches through the back of his dishwasher. His parents have left with little to go on, and as he finds his way in this seemingly hostile environment, he only comes to understand the scope of his experience a piece at a time. Life on board the rusty junk collecting ship isn't easy. He survives by his wits alone, but he slowly develops allies that can help him in his quest, and makes it through more than one near-death experience.

This is a fantasy adventure story that will probably appeal most to upper elementary readers. It's fast-paced adventure writing in a strange and imaginative world. I enjoyed it, though there were times when I had to reread a page or two in order to fully grasp what was going on. Readers are playing catch up along with Jed as he discovers his place in a world that he starts out knowing almost nothing about. This is certainly the first book in a series, so readers should enter this story with an understanding that they investing themselves in something larger to come. Still, it was a fun read. I look forward to the next installment.