MAPMAKERS AND THE LOST MAGIC

As the oppressive might of the Night Coats befalls the town of Alden, young Alidade must uncover her inner mapmaker to liberate her home and herself.

Trouble comes easily to Alidade, a brown-skinned, black-haired girl who routinely flouts the Night Coats’ rules forbidding anyone from traveling beyond Alden’s boundaries. During one of her prohibited excursions, she spots a tree with a doorknob. Sneaking through the door in the tree’s trunk, Alidade enters the mysterious Mapmakers’ Lodge, where she finds a degraded magical map of the whole Valley as well as Blue, a haughty, birdlike creature, or Memri, who is loyal to the mapmakers’ peace-seeking cause. With help from her best friend, Lewis, who has brown skin and sandy hair, and guided by Blue’s tutelage, Alidade acquires knowledge once celebrated by the now-gone mapmakers, working to restore the map and fight back against the Night Coats. In their debut, Chittock and Castillo weave a quaint tale of courage and friendship brimming with a fruitful sense of whimsy. The artwork—inked in a lovely ramshackle style—boasts a rich and earthy palette, scaled to match the journey that Alidade undertakes as she crosses the magical barrier. Alidade’s arc from eager troublemaker to determined mapmaker chugs along at a nice pace, dependent on a couple of wordless time lapses that prove crucial. Above all, it’s Alidade’s sweetly sketched friendship with Lewis that pulls the most weight in this trilogy starter.

Intriguingly good.