The Golden Door

Gr 4–6—Like the protagonist in Rodda's Rowan of Rin (Greenwillow, 2001), Rye is young, naïve, and voted least likely to save the walled city of Weld from anything, especially flying, destructive monsters. But when his two older brothers fail to return after volunteering to hunt these ravenous beasts, Rye lies about his age and heads off to find them. A Keep Orphan named Sonia convinces him to take her along, and together they step through the golden door and are magically whisked off to the Fell Zone, where they have to contend with dragons, blood hogs, sea serpents, and the evil and ancient Wizard Olt, who requires human sacrifices to stay alive. The mysterious Fellans inform Rye that he is a long-awaited hero and give him nine magical objects to help him find his oldest brother Dirk, stop Olt, and rescue the sacrifices. But wait, there's more-this is only the first book in a trilogy. Rye starts out quiet and introspective, but ultimately shows himself to be brave and resourceful, if unconvinced of his heroic destiny. There's a bit of mystery surrounding Sonia, who has some brave, resourceful moments of her own. The rest of the supporting cast is somewhat flat, with a few exceptions. Rodda's world-building is, as always, excellent, though her use of Fantasy Speech (no contractions) is distracting. There is some violence, but despite that and the fact that Rye and Sonia are teens, this curiously old-fashioned fantasy would work best with upper-elementary-aged readers.—Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library