This is a brilliant adventure, full of optimism and self belief, undertaken by five
clever and talented children who prove that not only adults can change the
world.
The child characters are brave, resourceful,
adaptable, united and clever. They are leaders in a novel with a fantastic
storyline written in superb prose.
The Santander family minus father have set out by
train for Grand Prospect to enter the Mapmakers’ Race.
Mother is a gifted
Mapmaker who intends to chart a route from Grand Prospect through the mountains
to New Coalhaven, for a horse track, then a railway. Winning the prize will
save her family from abject poverty.
Joe goes for water and takes too long, so
mother goes to find him. Joe returns but mother gets left behind when the train
takes off. The children continue on alone.
Joe and Francie are eleven year old twins. Joe is
the explorer. Francie doesn’t speak, but draws continuously. Joe speaks for
Francie as he can tell what she wants to say. She also travels out of her body
when necessary. This makes her the designer and illustrator of the maps.
Sal at fourteen is a maths genius. She is allocated
surveyor. Then there is the youngest Humphrey, called Humph. He is as wise as
an elder, and is lots of fun. There is also Carrot the parrot, who is the
protector of the children.
They team up with the dray driver, slow-talking but
fast-thinking Beckett who joins them, having nothing better to do. He proves to be their greatest asset.
Having shared their parents’ work, the four children
have learnt all the skills of Mapmaking. The entry fee has been paid. They know
the rules of the Race. When the applications are studied, there is no mention
of children not being allowed to participate. They are determined to fulfil the
family’s plans, and win the money regardless of competition from conniving
adults, teams that will stop at nothing to create setbacks for them, and
mechanical horses that never feed or get tired.
This is an epic adventure of endurance, focus and
sheer perseverance taken over 28 days. The travellers are sustained during the long,
lonely nights, and fear, by the stories they tell each other; stories that
they’d been told by their parents. They are threatened by swollen rivers, lack
of utensils and protection from the elements. But they are courageous and
always believe they will win.
But with all the odds against them and sabotage always
a threat, will they?
Title:
The Mapmakers’ Race
Author:
Eirlys Hunter
Illustrator:
Kirsten Slade
Publisher:
Gecko Press, $19.99
Publication
Date: July 2018
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781776572038
For
ages: 8 - 12
Type: Middle Fiction
