The golden door by Emily Rodda

Omnibus, 2011. ISBN 978 1 86291 912 9.
(Ages 10+) Warmly recommended. Fantasy. With the skimmers attacking every night, getting through the heavily guarded and blocked doors and crevices of the homes in the Weld, actually killing one family, the Warden finally acts. A proclamation stirs the passion of Dirk and Sholto and their friends, intent on being able to get outside of the wall and find the source of the skimmers, so destroying them. In so doing they will win the hand of the Warden's daughter, and be named his heir.
In a very few chapters, Emily Rodda introduces her new world, a world once safe behind its wall, where a myriad of rules keep people comforted and secure, but when a few of the younger generation find things too safe, the restrictions too cloying, and with the opportunity provided by this recent threat, they go searching for action. First Dirk and Sholto go off in search of the reason behind the skimmer attacks, and fail to return, their mother receiving a badge to wear showing that her sons have died in the line of duty. But when the skimmers destroy their home and livelihood, Rye and his mother must seek shelter at the Keep. Here they are separated and Rye seizes the opportunity to also go beyond the Wall.
A fantasy series full of adventure and colour, Rye's journey into the Fell Zone outside the Wall takes him far further than he could have imagined. I love this new series and am looking forward to book 2, as I am sure all readers will.
Fran Knight