I was surprised to see such a 'fantastic' novel written by Mr. Schmidt. Surprised and impressed. This is scary to an appropriate degree, sweet, and unusual. I was confused about the 'other worlders' Schmidt has created, mostly about who was who and what that meant, but exposition about races would have slowed the beginning down. (There is an explanatory bit at the end that maybe could have been a prologue...)
Anyway, I definitely recommend this to kids who like a thrill and a bit of sci-fi. (I want to get this for my nephew as a gift.)