What Came from the Stars, by Gary Schmidt--Waiting on Wednesday

I recently came across news of a forthcoming book that made me sqee (gently) and add it tout suite to my list of must haves--What Came from the Stars, by Gary Schmidt (Clarion Books, September 4, 2012).

Now, the blurb itself wasn't exactly what made me want the book--it doesn't, for instance, feature an orphanage, an old house, a plucky girl, or enchanted birds/foxes/horses, to name a few things I like in books. But it sounds reasonable enough (although any mention of a dark lord makes me feel a tad twitchy):

"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 starsall 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."

No. It was not this blurb that made me want this ever so much. It is that GARY SCMIDT, author of my dearly beloved The Wednesday Wars (and Okay for Now), has written a middle grade fantasy! Which I call very thoughtful of him, because a. this is what I read most and b. I will read anything he writes.

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.