Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Violence: There is some fighting and death in battle, but with very little detail. Implied torture and death of two soldiers. A battle between Tommy and his friends and an evil man from another planet.

Adult Themes: Tommy’s mother dies and he believes it is his fault. His sister has not spoken since the death of their mother.

Synopsis

In another galaxy, the last faithful Valorim, Young Waeglim, creates an exquisite piece of art in the heat of battle. He shapes a green and silver chain, hoping to preserve the art of the Valorim and keep its beauty and power from the evil Lord Mondus. In the seconds before the O’Mondim claim victory, Young Waeglim sends his creation across the galaxies and past a trillion stars on the breath of his own Song and Thought. The chain hurtles through space and eventually lands on a windowsill at William Bradford Elementary School, Plymouth Massachusetts, then topples into the Ace Robotroid adventure lunch box below the window.

Meanwhile on earth, Tommy Pepper eats his lunch. Tommy is your average 6th grader in most ways. He walks his little sister to school, plays football with his buddies at recess and is embarrassed by the little kid lunch box his grandmother sent him for his birthday. But Tommy is dealing with some fairly non-average problems right now. His mother recently died in a car accident and his sister hasn’t spoken at all since her death. The local real estate mogul is bent on taking his family’s land to build condos on the Plymouth coast and ever since a strange necklace fell out of the sky into his lunchbox, Tommy draws pictures of  a planet with two suns, knows that a gyldn is a dagger-like weapon, and instinctively senses that whoever is ransacking all of the houses in Plymouth is looking for something that he has.

As events escalate and the evil presence in Plymouth increases, Tommy must protect his family from forces and beings that are not of this world. He will find, however, that he and his friends are gumena weardas (brave warriors) and that kindness matters.

Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt is one of my favorites so I trusted that What Came From the Stars would not disappoint, and it didn’t. I loved Tommy’s gentle interactions with his younger, grieving sister. I also enjoyed Tommy’s friends, who are lesser characters, but true friends who stand by him – everyone needs friends like them. In the end, the victory of good over evil is impacted by a simple act of kindness, which is a great lesson for young people to be remember.

Recommended for readers age 10 and up.