THE WHITE GATES

Twelve-year-old Torin is struggling to adapt, having moved from living in California with his father to Snow Park, Colo., with his mother, the newly minted Dr. Sinclair. A cold wintry night finds Mom insisting Tor accompany her to the emergency room, from which a helicopter eventually airlifts a young snowboarder to Denver for in-depth treatment. Oddly, the watching kids treat both Tor and his mother with hostility and mutter about a curse on the town. When he heads to a local shop for snowboarding gear and lessons, he meets Raine, a descendent of the Ute woman who placed the infamous curse, and her buddy, movie-star handsome Drake, the oft-forgotten son of a famous snowboarder. Getting to the bottom of the curse ties all three kids together as they work toward a common goal. Readers will find the plot elements—new kid in town, novice at a sport and mystery of a curse—familiar, but without hoopla or fancy flourishes, Ramthun delivers fast-paced, solid entertainment that is accessible and fun and laced with plenty of facts about snowboarding on the side. A rollicking downhill read. (Fiction. 10-14)