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Lisa Ann Scott’s Back on the Map is a Heartwarming Story About Fighting for What You Believe In
My daughter rushed to open the padded envelope containing Lisa Ann Scott’s latest middle grade novel, Back on the Map. I didn’t have a chance to even see the cover before she had pulled it out of the packaging, plopped herself down on our oversized living room chair, and begun reading. A huge fan of Scott’s previous novel, School of Charm, she couldn’t wait to dive into the world of Penny and Parker Porter, a set of fifth grade twins on a journey to solve the mystery of where they come from, and to discover who forms the branches of their family tree.
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Having bounced from foster home to foster home after the death of their mother and the abandonment of their father, the twins embark on an incredible adventure to find a place they can call home. They decide that it must be their current town of New Hope, but the only way to do it is by making the town famous. This is a huge undertaking, considering how rundown the small city has become and how quickly their foster parent, Grauntie’s, mental health is deteriorating, putting them at risk of moving again. Although they don’t think they’re in the ideal living situation, Penny constantly sees the positives in her world rather than the negatives.
Fortunately, Penny and Parker don’t have to go about transforming New Hope alone. Penny quickly learns that the key to getting others involved is by trading various creations she’s made, and tapping into her roots, which she believes includes a long history of famous innovators and revolutionaries. She is convinced that historical figures like Sacagawea or Harriet Tubman are her long lost relatives. Eventually, the children and adults in the town come together to help rebuild an abandoned orphanage that was supposed to be a huge attraction, but never got completed. This project not only helps to bring the town back together but it leads to finally putting New Hope “back on the map”. And the journey also leads them to much more than a building or a town. It leads the twins to a long-lost father, and a sense of self beyond family roots.
You can’t help but cheer on Penny, who not only has a positive and focused attitude through it all, but also a whimsical touch of magic in her ability to see people’s “auras”—which gives her a unique connection to the orphanage, which housed children with that same ability many years prior. Penny isn’t afraid to stand out from the crowd, and to fight for what she believes in, which is a great message for young readers and adults alike. This novel beautifully brings to life the idea that our differences only make us stronger, and that a town is more than just a place on a map.
Back on the Map is on B&N bookshelves now.