Gateway
Grade 6–9—When Daiyu, a St. Louis high school student adopted as a baby from China, buys a black jade ring from an old woman and then walks through the Gateway Arch, her life instantly changes. The Arch has been replaced by an enormous pagodalike gate, and most of the people around her are Chinese. A young man assures her that everything is fine and takes her to the people who have been expecting her. Daiyu discovers that the world she knows is only one of many "iterations" created by contentious gods who wanted different versions of the world when it was created. Because she is Chinese, she has been brought to this particular iteration, a place where the ruling class is Chinese, to help eliminate one of the gods' rogue servants. The fantasy is coherent and engaging and has the potential for sequels that explore other iterations. Shinn is a prolific and skillful writer, and the world in which Daiyu finds herself is full of interesting detail, though its use of Chinese culture is superficial. The story itself moves slowly. Daiyu is placed into the household of an upper-class woman who claims the teen as her niece because she is desperate to get certain invitations only available to families with girls being introduced into society. Daiyu falls in love with the young man who rescued her and is also courted by a wealthy suitor. In the end, it is the hint of a happy ending to the slight love story that will satisfy most readers.—Barbara Scotto, Children's Literature New England, Brookline, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.