The Door at the End of the World

February 15, 2019
An unremarkable 13-year-old deputy Gatekeeper must leave her post stamping blue travel applications and pink customs declarations when a catastrophe threatens all of the worlds.Lucy loves being organized, which makes her supremely well-suited for her job at the end of the world, at the door leading from her world of Southeast to the neighboring East. She knows that she's not particularly clever or interesting, and she worries that she got this job because her well-connected parents pulled some strings, but nevertheless she loves working for the cranky, white-haired old Gatekeeper. She doesn't want any trouble, so it's all the more terrible when the Gatekeeper disappears and the door to East jams shut--right after a strange boy tumbles through it. Arthur, a bespectacled 15-year-old, hadn't even known there were other worlds besides his own East (home of exotic places such as Sacramento, Vladivostok, and Auckland). Together, Lucy and Arthur begin a quest to tell the surely trustworthy authorities about the missing Gatekeeper and the broken door. Along with grumpy Rosemary, deputy of another missing gatekeeper--isn't she?--they unravel a plot that threatens commerce and travel across all eight worlds. The characters are assumed white and have names that evoke classic English-language literature. With its low-key comedy and grace notes such as bees that communicate by spelling, the book recalls earlier adventures by Diana Wynne Jones and Eva Ibbotson.Joyfully chaotic. (Fantasy. 10-12)

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April 1, 2019

Gr 4-7-When Lucy, the gatekeeper's deputy, goes to work, she discovers that the gatekeeper has vanished and that the door to the next world is broken. When she opens the door to investigate, a boy from another world falls in. What has happened and who caused it? As they team up with the daughter of an interworld smuggler, they realize that not only have all the gatekeepers from all the worlds disappeared, but that the original gatecutting scissors are also gone. There are many twists and turns and not all is as it seems: there are bees that can spell, thistle-backed thrunts that kill, and shrink-wrap that can make large objects portable. Fans of fantasy such as Brandon Mull's "Fablehaven" series will enjoy this adventure set in different worlds. VERDICT A new and entertaining fantasy for middle grade readers that is just waiting for a screenplay to be written.-Deanna McDaniel, Genoa Middle School, OH

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