The Blue Road by Wayde Compton

Illustrated by April dela Noche Milne
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​This story follows Lacuna as she is forced to leave her home, The Swamp of Ink, and travel to a distant kingdom.  She is ousted by a Will-o'-the-wisp, and bargains with it that she will leave and tell others how beautiful it is, but to never travel to the Swamp of Ink, and the Will-o'-the-wisp agrees not to kill her.  Lacuna does not find her road to the Northern Kingdom without her fair share of trials, but she eventually does make it there and struggles to find her place in a new country.

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There’s a bit heavy-handedness with the metaphors at the beginning of this story, but by the time I got into the third chapter, I stopped making obvious connections to the current state of migration affairs and just read the story because I was interested in what was happening with Lacuna. This title is a good one to give to children as a way to explain some of the seriousness of what is happening with migration issues. The art is beautiful and compelling.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability level: Grades 6-12

This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Publication Date: October 22, 2019
ISBN: 9781551527772 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Graphic Fiction, Fantasy