Mapmaker

by Lisa Moore Ramée (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

From Lisa Moore Ramée, author of the Walter Honor Award-winning A Good Kind of Trouble, comes her debut middle grade fantasy--an absorbing, imaginative adventure about a Black boy who has the magical ability to bring maps to life.

When Walt and his family relocate to Blackbird Bay, Walt thinks it's the most boring place on earth. While his twin sister, Van, likes to spend her time skateboarding, Walt prefers to hide out in his room and work on his beloved map world, Djaruba. But shortly after their arrival, Walt discovers something extraordinary: He has the ability to make maps come to life.

Suddenly his new hometown doesn't seem so boring after all. And when a magical heirloom leaves Walt, his new friend Dylan, and Van stranded in the fantastical world that Walt created, he'll need to harness his new power to get them home.

But things are changing. People have gone missing, and it's clear that a malevolent rival to the kingdom--a fellow mapmaker--has nefarious plans for Walt. If he's not stopped soon, Djaruba could become nothing but a shadow of itself or, worse, gone forever. And if a mapmaker can destroy one world, could Earth be next?

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Kirkus

Readers will be absorbed as they explore fantastical worlds through his curious and enthusiastic eyes. An exciting and imaginative read.

ALA/Booklist

Ramée's fast-paced debut centering on a Black protagonist engagingly leaves gaps for the reader to fill in with their own creativity and imagination, and themes of pushing against gendered expectations give the story emotional weight. 

Review quotes

"This is an exciting adventure full of friendship and heart with a likable nerdy-Black-kid protagonist.... Readers will enjoy the well-drawn characters as well as the fantastical landscapes and imaginative creatures in Walt's magical world." — Horn Book Magazine

"In her first fantasy for young readers, Lisa Moore Ramée puts her distinctively authentic tween characters into a world where magic glimmers underneath the surface, creating an inventive fantastical adventure that explores the many ways to be tough and how powerful having a big imagination can be." — Anne Ursu, author of The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780063039438
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
N/A
Publication date
September 19, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings
Library of Congress categories
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