FOOL'S GOLD by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. 1993, 214 pages. Delacorte Press. $14.
The whole area around the town Pyramid Hill was pocked with mine shafts. Every young person grew up recognizing someone who had speculated in gold mines and particularly knew how dangerous the empty quarries were. Rumors and superstitions abounded: "Old mines were full of snakes and spiders, shafts that went straight down forever, flooded passageways, crumbling walls, hidden crevices . . . " The stories were endless.When 14-year-old Rudy thought about the mines it started a pain in his stomach and the urge to scream. He had terrible recurring nightmares " . . . the feeling that someone had just dropped a bowling ball on his midsection and that a dark tunnel with a tiny flickering light seemed to be imprinted on the inside of his eyeballs."
Tyler, a new kid in town, claims to have a map of a mine with gold still left in it. Barney, Rudy's best friend who always lived dangerously, agrees to go to the old mine with Tyler.
Rudy spends all of his time keeping busy so that he won't have to accompany Tyler and Barney on their exploration into the mine. In a series of predictable events, Barney is trapped in the mine and Rudy overcomes his phobia to save his friend.
In an almost too adult fashion he reasons out his fear of being closed in (a cave-in at age 5 with his stepfather) and helps handle the fears of Barney and even Tyler. He even works on his little sister's hang-ups as well.
"Fool's Gold" is a spine-tingler. Even though the resolution is inevitable, the blind panic of doing something that would assure terror is gripping. "The air was cool and dank and smelled of earth and decay . . . He had only gone a few steps when throat-tightening, chest-squeezing terror started up . . . Rudy closed his eyes tightly and screamed . . . the black panic backed away. He could feel it, though, hiding like a dark cloud around the edges of his mind, waiting to force its way out . . . "
Snyder chooses her phrases well to make the trek through the shaft a complete climax - Rudy gropes for footholds, slides on oozing slimy water and crawls under overhangs of threatening wet rocks. Self-realization for all three boys is found in the ending - some more than others. Readers in grades 4-7 will relate to this theme.
The author's description of the town and the outline of the gold-rush days add greatly to the interest and understanding of the novel.
Zilpha Keatley Synder, who lives in Marin County, Calif., has a distinguished list of novels to her credit, including "The Egypt Game," "The Headless Cupid" and "Witches of Worm," which were all Newbery Honor Books and American Library Association Notable Books for children.