Rex’s reviews of anything (but mostly books)

The White Gates – Bonnie Ramthun

When Torin Sinclair finds himself uprooted from sunny Southern California and dropped unceremoniously in a little Colorado mountain town – in early December, no less – he’s certain that life as he knows it is over. The frigid cold is bad enough, but the dying snowboarder his Mom (Dr. Sinclair, the new town doctor) is called to treat on his first night in town gets things off to a creepy start. It’s little comfort when he learns that an old Ute woman had cursed the town ‘way, ‘way, ‘way back in 1952; and the curse was that the town wouldn’t be able to keep a doctor.

Though Tor thinks his new life will be a mess, Dr. Mom has the solution up her white sleeve: his first snowboarding lesson is tomorrow! And not only is Tor a natural, he makes two friends at the snowboard shop! Raine, Drake, and Tor become Snow Park’s answer to the Three (Twelve-Year-Old) Musketeers!

Musketeers or no, the three outcasts – the multiple-greats-granddaughter of that curse-giver, the neglected son of a world-class snowboarder, and the son of the curse-target doctor – have full lives. There’s school, riding their boards, removing the curse, and, oh yeah – solving the mystery. Why did a seemingly healthy teenager die of pulmonary edema? And why did the rest of the high school snowboard team blame Tor’s Mom?

The answer awaits, but first Tor will have to blunder through The White Gates.

After three mystery/thriller novels for grownups (Ground Zero, Earthquake Games, and The Thirteenth Skull), Colorado author Bonnie Ramthun turns to the youth market with a slim hardback aimed at middle-schoolers. Based in a Colorado ski town (it sounds a lot like Crested Butte), The White Gate mixes tween angst with the glories of snowboarding, as readers learn the sport’s basics along with the hero. Along with other popular tween themes – bullies and broken homes – the mystery-thriller is also sprinkled generously with a little supernatural action and some “Indian lore.” All in all, it’s a typical YA mystery, with kids outwitting evil adults and plenty of buddyhood as they struggle to unravel their mystery, with some Xtreme danger tossed in to spice things up. The snowboarding angle might be enough to get some kids interested; the same way Chris Crutcher’s sports-based YA stories are attractive.

On other fronts, however, The White Gates falls somewhat short. Tor’s sudden move to Colorado remains unexplained other than a slim back story about his mother’s long-ago departure for medical school and a single mention of his pregnant stepmother back in California. There’s no explanation of why he’s suddenly moved in with Mom, who “had left them… both Tor and his dad, and his parents had divorced.” The kid seems pretty well-adjusted about it, if you ask me – apparently he’s finished the obligatory therapy.

Although kids in YA mysteries are invariably smarter than adults, they still talk like kids. That being said, I have a tough time seeing dialog like this coming from a twelve-year-old:

“Excellent!” Raine said happily. “Pay no attention to Drake. You’re going to love snowboarding if you like surfing.” Raine flipped up a laptop that Tor hadn’t seen amid all the equipment on her desk. She typed quickly. “I’ve got Gloria free at one o’clock. She’ll take you until four.”

“Three hours? Tor asked, disappointed…

“Three hours your first time is enough,” Raine said, still typing. She hit a final key with a flourish and shut the laptop. “She’ll arrange your schedule after your first day, so ask her about your next lessons. Now let’s get you geared up.”

The kid talks like a Pentagon PR flack… as if the author had started to write an adult novel and ended up cannibalizing it for a YA novel. The three children seem strangely adult at times like this.

Overall, a middling middle-schooler mystery that’s held back somewhat by clumsy dialog and a lot of unanswered questions about its main characters.

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The White Gates