Compass South: A Graphic Novel (Four Points, Book 1)

by Hope Larson, Rebecca Mock (Illustrator)

Overview

It's 1860 in New York City. When 12-year-old twins Alexander and Cleopatra's father disappears, they join the Black Hook Gang and are caught by the police pulling off a heist. They agree to reveal the identity of the gang in exchange for tickets to New Orleans. But once there, Alex is shanghaied to work on a ship that is heading for San Francisco via Cape Horn. Cleo stows away on a steamer to New Granada where she hopes to catch a train to San Francisco to find her brother. Neither Alexander nor Cleo realizes the real danger they are in-they are being followed by pirates who think they hold the key to treasure. How they outwit the pirates and find each other makes for a fast-paced, breathtaking adventure.
A Margaret Ferguson Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466895959
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	06/28/2016
Series:	Four Points Series , #1
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	97 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Hope Larson adapted and illustrated A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel, for which she won an Eisner Award. She is also the author and illustrator of Salamander Dream, Gray Horses, Chiggers, and Mercury. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Rebecca Mock is an illustrator and comic artist. Her work has appeared in various publications including the New York Times and The New Yorker. She is co-organizer of the Hana Doki Kira anthology. Compass South is her first book.

Hope Larson is the author of Salamander Dream, Gray Horses, Chiggers, and Mercury. She won a 2007 Eisner Award. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
Rebecca Mock is an illustrator and comics artist. She illustrated the graphic novels Compass South and Knife's Edge, both written by Hope Larson. Her work has also appeared in various publications, including the New York Times and the New Yorker. She is co-organizer of the Hana Doki Kira anthology.

Editorial Reviews

"Mock’s luminous full-color artwork beautifully showcases the late nineteenth-century locations, swashbuckling pirate battles, and jungle treks, all while effortlessly distinguishing among characters (no small feat, given the expansive, diverse cast and two sets of twins). Meanwhile, Larson, befitting the seafaring adventure, keeps the pace clipping along with frequent scene breaks and propulsive reveals. . . . A gorgeously executed, lively caper.” —Booklist, starred review

“Larson, best known for her graphic novel adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, weaves a wonderful, vivid story, assisted beautifully by Mock’s illustrations, which take the twins from murky back alleys to bright and vibrant ocean scenes...A charming choice for elementary and middle school library graphic novel collections.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“Larson’s (Who Is AC?) concoction of tried-and-true adventure elements—stowaways, pirate raids, jungle tribes—hangs together convincingly, and scene-stealers such as Tarboro, a free black man who’s a brilliant swordsman and the story’s true hero, provide moral ballast. Illustrator Mock, making her debut, adeptly captures the changing relationships between the twins—especially the gender-bending awkwardness that accompanies Cleo’s stint as a boy. A sequel is promised.” —Publishers Weekly

“Captures all the rollicking action of a Robert Louis Stevenson–type sea adventure.” —The Horn Book

From the Publisher

2016-03-30
Two sets of twins find themselves pursued by gangs and pirates on a swashbuckling sea adventure.In mid-19th-century Manhattan, white, carrot-topped 12-year-old twins Cleopatra and Alexander Dodge have taken up with the no-good Black Hook gang since their father's gone missing. When they bumble one of their break-ins, they end up snitching on the gang to save their own skins. Exiled from New York, they decide to head west. On their way, they encounter another set of white, titian-tressed con-artist twins, Silas and Edwin. After a destructive melee, the two sets of twins are separated, and Silas and Cleo (now disguised as a boy and going by Pat) must track down the shanghaied Edwin and Alex. All are being pursued by the Black Hooks and a fierce pirate, who is seeking items carried by Cleo and Alex. With a keen eye to detail and deft pacing, Larson has created a sweeping and richly woven tale that never once loses its breakneck momentum and adroitly juggles a number of themes and plotlines. Mock's clearly delineated panels and earth-toned art breathe life into the historical setting, although some readers may have a hard time distinguishing between the mismatched, similarly dressed sets of identical-looking twins, especially on their sea adventures. The vast cast of secondary characters appropriately includes people of color.Complex, engaging, and sure to please a wide audience. (Graphic historical adventure. 8-13)

Kirkus Reviews