The Valorim are about to fall to a dark lord when they send a necklace containing their planet across the cosmos, hurtling past a trillion stars . . . all the way into the lunchbox of Tommy Pepper, sixth grader, of Plymouth, Mass. Mourning his late mother, Tommy doesn't notice much about the chain he found, but soon he is drawing the twin suns and humming the music of a hanorah. As Tommy absorbs the art and language of the Valorim, their enemies target him. When a creature begins ransacking Plymouth in search of the chain, Tommy learns he must protect his family from villains far worse than he's ever imagined.
What Came from the Stars
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 6-8-There's a pretty good story at the center of this novel. Twelve-year-old Tommy Pepper, his little sister, and their father are struggling through the grief of his mother's sudden death. Tommy and his mother parted on bad terms that terrible day, and he feels that her anger precipitated her car accident on an icy road. Patty has not spoken since. The family is also resisting the attempts of an unscrupulous developer to oust them from their beloved house in Plymouth, Massachusetts, so she can build waterfront condominiums. That's plenty of fodder for an absorbing plot. But Schmidt has wrapped Tommy's story inside an unsuccessful sci-fi fantasy. On a distant planet, evil, duplicitous beings have nearly conquered the good guys. In desperation, one of the heroic types makes a Chain out of the Art of his civilization and launches it into space, and it falls into Tommy's lunch box. All well and good, except that readers have no idea what the planet looks like or what normal life consists of there. The language in this part of the book is ponderous; for example, "Not a one of the Valorim did not weep for what would be lost together." Readers need to plow through pages of impenetrable prose before they meet Tommy. And every time they get swept into his story, it's brought to a halt. Schmidt is an accomplished, talented author who excels at creating characters dealing with tricky moral dilemmas. He has taken a risk in attempting to write in a new genre, but it's a risk that did not pan out this time.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NYα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review
“Schmidt brings high heroic fantasy and contemporary realism together in this novel.”—Horn Book, starred review
“Spielberg, get ready for this boldly imagined outer-space offering.”—Kirkus
“Schmidt, already a best-seller and award winner, should pick up even more fans with this crowd-pleasing fantasy.”—Booklist
“Wonderfully strange. . . . This inventive and memorable story for readers ages 10-15 manages to mingle the quotidian and the movingly supernatural. It's funny, too.”—The Wall Street Journal
"The balance of emotions is flawless."—Bulletin
“Spielberg, get ready for this boldly imagined outer-space offering.”—Kirkus
“Schmidt, already a best-seller and award winner, should pick up even more fans with this crowd-pleasing fantasy.”—Booklist
“Wonderfully strange. . . . This inventive and memorable story for readers ages 10-15 manages to mingle the quotidian and the movingly supernatural. It's funny, too.”—The Wall Street Journal
"The balance of emotions is flawless."—Bulletin
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More About the Author
Gary D. Schmidt is the author of the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. His most recent novel is The Wednesday Wars. He is a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
What Came From The Stars combines the best in middle grade realistic fiction with some pretty fantastical elements to produce a story that was ultimately very hard to put down. I have struggled over this book's star rating because there is a lot here that I did not enjoy and that I feel will make this book a hard sell to its ten to fourteen year old target market. This novel contains two stories; the first being the story of young Tommy Pepper, a sixth grader from Plymouth, Massachusetts. The second story tells of a civilization on a faraway planet that is on the verge of destruction. This alien race sends everything that is good about their culture and their people out into space in the form of a necklace. This necklace ends up in Tommy's lunch box, and it's what happens to Tommy, his family, and this alien civilization as a result of this odd coincidence that makes up this compelling if somewhat predictable story.
This author has a wonderful gift for writing children's characters. We've seen it in his award winning previous work, and it is full display here. Tommy and Patty Pepper are well rounded, believable characters that will tug at your heartstrings, and their dialogues ring with an authenticity that makes you feel like you are right there with them in the schoolyard navigating the bullies and the lunch room. The author sets the Massachusetts scenery just beautifully, especially at the end, where I totally felt the chilly sea air and could smell the seaweed stink. I could often feel Tommy's terror, and the author uses a combination of some excellent descriptive writing, authentic inner dialogues, and spot on pacing to generate some moments that were truly creepy, even for this adult reader.
My problems with this story arise almost totally from the author's depictions of the alien race and their struggles. There is an awful lot of world building going on in a very short time, and it quickly becomes too much. The alternating chapters depicting the battles and political machinations on this far away planet quickly became mostly tedious, interspersed with moments of high melodrama. There is far too much information to absorb, as readers are asked to adapt to an impressive 65 made up alien terms pretty much from the first chapter. On top of this, trying to sort out who's who, and who is on what side is a chore as well. This would have all been okay if the reader would have been given more time to absorb, and if the author had provided just a little bit of character development for these people. Then, perhaps I would have been a bit more absorbed in their plight. As it was, I found myself dreading these chapters and looking forward to getting back to the Plymouth side of the story.
What Came From The Stars was a mixed success for me. The writing is beautiful, but the plot felt kind of derivative. I seemed that I had heard this basic story before, and when you combine that with just far too many neologisms for my comfort, it resulted in a read that was just okay for me. This is one that I would recommend only for the most hard core young sci-fi/fantasy fans that have the patience to slog through the starry part of this tale.
This author has a wonderful gift for writing children's characters. We've seen it in his award winning previous work, and it is full display here. Tommy and Patty Pepper are well rounded, believable characters that will tug at your heartstrings, and their dialogues ring with an authenticity that makes you feel like you are right there with them in the schoolyard navigating the bullies and the lunch room. The author sets the Massachusetts scenery just beautifully, especially at the end, where I totally felt the chilly sea air and could smell the seaweed stink. I could often feel Tommy's terror, and the author uses a combination of some excellent descriptive writing, authentic inner dialogues, and spot on pacing to generate some moments that were truly creepy, even for this adult reader.
My problems with this story arise almost totally from the author's depictions of the alien race and their struggles. There is an awful lot of world building going on in a very short time, and it quickly becomes too much. The alternating chapters depicting the battles and political machinations on this far away planet quickly became mostly tedious, interspersed with moments of high melodrama. There is far too much information to absorb, as readers are asked to adapt to an impressive 65 made up alien terms pretty much from the first chapter. On top of this, trying to sort out who's who, and who is on what side is a chore as well. This would have all been okay if the reader would have been given more time to absorb, and if the author had provided just a little bit of character development for these people. Then, perhaps I would have been a bit more absorbed in their plight. As it was, I found myself dreading these chapters and looking forward to getting back to the Plymouth side of the story.
What Came From The Stars was a mixed success for me. The writing is beautiful, but the plot felt kind of derivative. I seemed that I had heard this basic story before, and when you combine that with just far too many neologisms for my comfort, it resulted in a read that was just okay for me. This is one that I would recommend only for the most hard core young sci-fi/fantasy fans that have the patience to slog through the starry part of this tale.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
My 11 year old son hasn't read it yet, but my guess is that, as an avid fan of such fantasy books as the LOTR trilogy, the Underland Chronicles, and the Wrinkle in Time books, he is going to love this one, too.
The writing is on the caliber of L'Engle or Raskin, and this one is just epically beautiful. The descriptions of Plymouth, Massachusetts are just as glimmering and gorgeous as those of the faraway world at the center of the story. Unlike L'Engle and Raskin, however, Gary Schmidt always brings more than a touch of loss and melancholy to his books, but he always handles the sadness with excellent composure and some humor. Good life lesson, really.
I don't want to spoil anything in the book, but I want to be helpful to parents and to kids who want to know whether this is a good book for them, so, in no particular order:
1. The book is very well-written. If you admire beautiful, unobtrusive prose, you will like this book. If you prefer punk fiction that uses language in less conventional ways, this book may not thrill you the way did did me. Vocabulary is right in line with its intended age group and won't challenge many 6th graders, let alone 9th graders. Some of the language in the parallel story of the fall of the Valorim was challenging for me, but my experience with my 11 year old son and the Eragon and Tolkien books has been that he picks that stuff right up. Characterization is deft, if a little forced in places. Just a tiny bit, though.
2. Story themes - all content is age appropriate (5th to 9th grade). Nothing explicit or that would require explaining. Some disturbing violence. The protagonist is dealing with the death of his mother and with the disconnectedness of his father, who misses the mother. There are also bullying themes and some social commentary relating to economic pressures on families.
3. Originality - not so much, but well-told and interesting nonetheless. It will feel familiar if you like to read Neil Gaiman, Tolkien, Paolini, Collins, etc., but not predictable. Nutshell, spoiler-free (beyond what's in the editor's description) is that this story is a cross between the first Men in Black movie (super-important item from another planet lands in the possession of a 12 year old boy who doesn't know what it is; adventure ensues) and any of a number of boy saves his family books and movies (Supereight is the most recent one that comes to mind).
This is my second Gary D. Schmidt book. The first one I read was Okay for Now, which I thought was a little on the dark and depressing side, but still lovely to read. This one doesn't skirt the sadness, but doesn't get as deeply depressing (that's my take on it, anyway). Five stars with the caveat that if you don't like high fantasy or tween fic, you won't like this at all.
The writing is on the caliber of L'Engle or Raskin, and this one is just epically beautiful. The descriptions of Plymouth, Massachusetts are just as glimmering and gorgeous as those of the faraway world at the center of the story. Unlike L'Engle and Raskin, however, Gary Schmidt always brings more than a touch of loss and melancholy to his books, but he always handles the sadness with excellent composure and some humor. Good life lesson, really.
I don't want to spoil anything in the book, but I want to be helpful to parents and to kids who want to know whether this is a good book for them, so, in no particular order:
1. The book is very well-written. If you admire beautiful, unobtrusive prose, you will like this book. If you prefer punk fiction that uses language in less conventional ways, this book may not thrill you the way did did me. Vocabulary is right in line with its intended age group and won't challenge many 6th graders, let alone 9th graders. Some of the language in the parallel story of the fall of the Valorim was challenging for me, but my experience with my 11 year old son and the Eragon and Tolkien books has been that he picks that stuff right up. Characterization is deft, if a little forced in places. Just a tiny bit, though.
2. Story themes - all content is age appropriate (5th to 9th grade). Nothing explicit or that would require explaining. Some disturbing violence. The protagonist is dealing with the death of his mother and with the disconnectedness of his father, who misses the mother. There are also bullying themes and some social commentary relating to economic pressures on families.
3. Originality - not so much, but well-told and interesting nonetheless. It will feel familiar if you like to read Neil Gaiman, Tolkien, Paolini, Collins, etc., but not predictable. Nutshell, spoiler-free (beyond what's in the editor's description) is that this story is a cross between the first Men in Black movie (super-important item from another planet lands in the possession of a 12 year old boy who doesn't know what it is; adventure ensues) and any of a number of boy saves his family books and movies (Supereight is the most recent one that comes to mind).
This is my second Gary D. Schmidt book. The first one I read was Okay for Now, which I thought was a little on the dark and depressing side, but still lovely to read. This one doesn't skirt the sadness, but doesn't get as deeply depressing (that's my take on it, anyway). Five stars with the caveat that if you don't like high fantasy or tween fic, you won't like this at all.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Karen
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
On a world endless galaxies away, the peaceful realm of the Valorim and the Ethelim is under attack, falling to the great betrayer, Lord Mondus. Backed by the Faceless O'Mondim and surrounded by the Faithless, Mondus is in the last stages of his coup - the destruction of the gentle Valorim and all they hold dear. It is in these last desperate moments that Young Waeglim, Master of the Forge, fashions the Art of the Valorim into a single chain and sends it out into the universe, thereby preventing it's capture and misuse by the evil conqueror. Once the chain leaves the ravaged world behind, it flies past stars and great empty spaces until it comes to a smallish, wheeling galaxy and, circling a star on the edge of that galaxy, a blue planet. There, on that planet, the chain comes to rest, slipping quietly into the Ace Robotroid Adventure lunch box owned and despised by twelve-year-old Tommy Pepper.
If Tommy doesn't notice the chain right away, well, he has his reasons. For one thing, its his birthday, the first he has celebrated since his mother died two hundred and fifty-seven days ago in a car accident Tommy is pretty sure he caused. Now his little sister no longer speaks, his father is sad and distracted and a local real estate agency is trying to take away the Peppers' home.
It might have taken Tommy a while to notice the chain, but even with everything that is going on in his life it would be hard for him to miss the frightening and alien minions of Lord Mondus who are intent on claiming the chain and the Art for their overlord. Soon Tommy will have to defend his home, family and friends from a danger he doesn't fully understand using a power he doesn't know he has.
Only the brilliant Gary D. Schmidt could have written this book. Essentially, What Came From the Stars is comprised of three intertwined plots: the story of the Pepper family and their struggle to come to terms with the terrible tragedy that has befallen them; the tale of the Valorim's fall & the rise of the Ethelim (told in alternating chapters); and the narrative that brings those two plot lines together - how Tommy Pepper found the Art and defended it from those who would use it for evil. Like all of Schmidt's novels, What Came From the Stars is beautifully written, honest and faithful to the lives and emotions of its young characters.. Schmidt does an especially good job with Tommy Pepper, whose grief and guilt are both wholly believable. This novel is sometimes poignant and sometimes outright funny, but always compulsively readable.
I do have one reservation about this book - just a small one. The alternating chapters dealing with the struggles on the Valorim Home World are intricate and often complex and are filled with an alien language (a glossary is provided). Impatient readers and those that struggle with high fantasy might find these sections to be a bit of a chore. Still, everyone else should love What Came From the Stars.
P.S. If you've never read Gary D. Schmidt before, you don't know what you're missing. I recommend The Wednesday Wars, Okay For Now and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.
If Tommy doesn't notice the chain right away, well, he has his reasons. For one thing, its his birthday, the first he has celebrated since his mother died two hundred and fifty-seven days ago in a car accident Tommy is pretty sure he caused. Now his little sister no longer speaks, his father is sad and distracted and a local real estate agency is trying to take away the Peppers' home.
It might have taken Tommy a while to notice the chain, but even with everything that is going on in his life it would be hard for him to miss the frightening and alien minions of Lord Mondus who are intent on claiming the chain and the Art for their overlord. Soon Tommy will have to defend his home, family and friends from a danger he doesn't fully understand using a power he doesn't know he has.
Only the brilliant Gary D. Schmidt could have written this book. Essentially, What Came From the Stars is comprised of three intertwined plots: the story of the Pepper family and their struggle to come to terms with the terrible tragedy that has befallen them; the tale of the Valorim's fall & the rise of the Ethelim (told in alternating chapters); and the narrative that brings those two plot lines together - how Tommy Pepper found the Art and defended it from those who would use it for evil. Like all of Schmidt's novels, What Came From the Stars is beautifully written, honest and faithful to the lives and emotions of its young characters.. Schmidt does an especially good job with Tommy Pepper, whose grief and guilt are both wholly believable. This novel is sometimes poignant and sometimes outright funny, but always compulsively readable.
I do have one reservation about this book - just a small one. The alternating chapters dealing with the struggles on the Valorim Home World are intricate and often complex and are filled with an alien language (a glossary is provided). Impatient readers and those that struggle with high fantasy might find these sections to be a bit of a chore. Still, everyone else should love What Came From the Stars.
P.S. If you've never read Gary D. Schmidt before, you don't know what you're missing. I recommend The Wednesday Wars, Okay For Now and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
not typical for the author but still entertaining
Being a book by Gary Schmidt, this is a compelling read with an authentic protagonist and lovely writing. That said, this is not Schmidt's typical realistic fiction. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Miss Print
2.0 out of 5 stars
didn't work for me
I am a fan of Gary Schmidt and think he's a wonderful writer, but I unfortunately I did not enjoy this book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Cathe Fein Olson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Please look for another book by Gary Schmidt...
1) I loved the author's Okay for Now earlier this/ last year. That book should have won the Newberry. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Julia Walter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gary Schmidt does it again
At 64, I'm an old man and probably shouldn't be reading the genre erroneously called "young adult fiction. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Will Newman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book for All Ages
My grandson will be 6 years old in 12/12 and I ordered this book because he has so enjoyed the "Star Wars" movies and is having the "Harry Potter" series read to him at home. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Sue
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating and Fun
This book is a joy to read; creative, insightful and full of the internal workings of middle school life that Schmidt does so well. Read more
Published 7 months ago by M. Hulst
4.0 out of 5 stars
3.5/5 from Bookworm1858
After adoring Okay For Now, one of my top reads of 2011, I was excited to see another book from Schmidt and eagerly requested it. Read more
Published 8 months ago by bookworm1858
1.0 out of 5 stars
What Came From The Stars ... crashes and burns
It's hard to believe that the gifted author of WEDNESDAY WARS could produce drivel like What Came From the Stars. Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. Stasny
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mash together three movie plots and you get a mildly entertaining...
I read this book on the recommendation of a trusted friend, a children's librarian at our local public library. Read more
Published 8 months ago by TimToews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly disappointing
I have loved all of Gary. D Schmidt's previous books. I still think his Okay for Now should have won last years Newberry award. I thought I'd love this one too. I sadly didn't. Read more
Published 9 months ago by nevina
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