Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Schmidt, whose Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy won both Printz and Newbery Honors, delivers another winner...deeply satisfying." Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Review
"Schmidt...[gets] to the emotional heart of every scene without overstatement...another virtuoso turn by the author of Lizzie Bright." Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
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"Schmidt...makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous...a gentle, hopeful, moving story." Booklist, ALA, Starred Review
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"Schmidt rises above the novel's conventions to create memorable and believable characters." Horn Book, Starred Review
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"[An] entertaining and nuanced novel....There are laugh-out-loud moments that leaven the many poignant ones." School Library Journal
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"An accessible, humorous school story, and at the same time, an insightful coming-of-age tale." Bookpage
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"Fans of...Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy may be pleasantly surprised to see Schmidt's lighter, even sillier side." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Review
"The book is exceptionally well written. Schmidt creates characters that will remain with the reader long after the book is done. Doug's voice is unforgettable as he tries to help and protect his mom....While there is much stacked against him, he is a character filled with hope that the reader cannot help but root for. Push this one on readers; they will not be sorry....Schmidt writes a journal-type story with a sharp attention to detail, patterns in the story line, and an unexpected twist at the end." VOYA
Synopsis
From two-time Newbery honoree and Printz honoree Gary D. Schmidt comes a tale of high fantasy, where a peaceful civilization of a faraway planet has been besieged by a dark lord, and in a desperate attempt for survival send their most precious gift across the cosmos, hurtling past a trillion lighted stars... all the way into the lunchbox of Tommy Pepper, sixth grader, of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
About the Author
Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of Okay For Now, the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, and the Newbery Honor book The Wednesday Wars. He is a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.