Five children find a route through the wilderness in this exciting mountain-race adventure for middle grade readers. Sal, Joe, Francie and Humphrey misplace their famous mapmaker mother as they begin the Great Race to map a rail route through an uncharted wilderness. Their father didn't return from his last expedition and now their money is gone. This race is their last chance. They have 28 days to find and map the best route. There'll be bears, bees, bats, river crossings, cliff falls, impossible weather--but worst of all, they're racing five teams of adults who do not play by the rules.
The land holds the truth ... the maps will reveal it. Sal, Joe, Francie and Humphrey Santander are mapmakers looking for their father, a famous explorer who disappeared on his last expedition. Their search takes them to Cruxcia, where the people are fighting to protect their land from the all-powerful Grania Trading Company. The Santanders’ mapping skills may be the missing piece in the Cruxcian race to save the ancient valley—and the key to reuniting their family.
Shortlisted for The Readings Children's Book Prize 2015 Adventure and danger lie just off the edge of the map in this swashbuckling new trilogy! Quinn's older brothers may long for adventure, but he is content with a quiet life on the farm. Destiny, however, has other plans. The King is determined to create the first map of the world and has scoured the kingdom for boys who could become mapmakers. When Quinn is chosen for the King's training school, he's amazed - but that is nothing compared to his shock when he is selected as one of the three mapmakers and finds himself on board a ship, competing for the big prize. So begins Quinn's reluctant journey deep into the unknown, on a ship captained by a slave, with a stowaway girl on board, and a mysterious sea monster that seems to be following them. Hot on their trail are the other competitors for the King's prize, who will stop at nothing to win. The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World is packed with action, adventure and intrigue, as Quinn battles unexpected enemies, discovers strange new lands and tries to conceal two very big secrets from his crewmates... 'Not since Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest series has there been such an exciting adventure tale from an Australian author' - Readings The Mapmaker Chronicles 1. Race to the End of the World 2. Prisoner of the Black Hawk 3. Breath of the Dragon (October 2015)
Five children find a route through the wilderness in this exciting mountain-race adventure for middle grade readers. Sal, Joe, Francie and Humphrey misplace their famous mapmaker mother as they begin the Great Race to map a rail route through an uncharted wilderness. Their father didn't return from his last expedition and now their money is gone. This race is their last chance. They have 28 days to find and map the best route. There'll be bears, bees, bats, river crossings, cliff falls, impossible weather—but worst of all, they're racing five teams of adults who do not play by the rules.
Black Legacies looks at color-based prejudice in medieval and modern texts in order to reveal key similarities. Bringing far-removed time periods into startling conversation, this book argues that certain attitudes and practices present in Europe’s Middle Ages were foundational in the development of the western concept of race. Using historical, literary, and artistic sources, Lynn Ramey shows that twelfth- and thirteenth-century discourse was preoccupied with skin color and the coding of black as “evil” and white as “good.” Ramey demonstrates that fears of miscegenation show up in all medieval European societies. She pinpoints these same ideas in the rhetoric of later centuries. Mapmakers and travel writers of the colonial era used medieval lore of “monstrous peoples” to question the humanity of indigenous New World populations, and medieval arguments about humanness were employed to justify the slave trade. Ramey even analyzes how race is explored in films set in medieval Europe, revealing an enduring fascination with the Middle Ages as a touchstone for processing and coping with racial conflict in the West today.
The Freedom Race, Lucinda Roy’s explosive first foray into speculative fiction, is a poignant blend of subjugation, resistance, and hope. In the aftermath of a cataclysmic civil war known as the Sequel, ideological divisions among the states have hardened. In the Homestead Territories, an alliance of plantation-inspired holdings, Black labor is imported from the Cradle, and Biracial “Muleseeds” are bred. Raised in captivity on Planting 437, kitchen-seed Jellybean “Ji-ji” Lottermule knows there is only one way to escape. She must enter the annual Freedom Race as a runner. Ji-ji and her friends must exhume a survival story rooted in the collective memory of a kidnapped people and conjure the voices of the dead to light their way home. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Eighteen years ago, two princes vanished. Now a riddle hidden on a mysterious map could chart a course towards the truth and the missing royals in this historical fantasy that's perfect for fans of Rachel Hartman and Tamora Pierce. Eighteen years ago two princes of the island kingdom of St. John del Mar were kidnapped and murdered, a deadly plot by the rival kingdom of Mondrago. Everyone knows the story, but for Elias, Mercedes, and Ulises, the aftermath of that tragic day is deeply personal. Elias grew up without his father, who was killed trying to protect the princes. Mercedes is half-Mondragan, leaving her to grow up in the shadow of del Mar’s hate. And Ulises, as the youngest and only remaining prince, inherited the throne meant for his older brothers. Now, the three friends just want to move on with their lives. But when two maps surface—each with the same hidden riddle—troubling questions arise. What really happened to the young princes? And why do the maps look like they were drawn by Elias’s father, whose body was never found? To discover what really happened that fateful day, Elias, Mercedes, and Ulises must follow the clues hidden in the maps, uncovering long-held secrets and unimaginable betrayals along the way. But the truth is dangerous, and not everyone wants it to come out. Isle of Blood and Stone is a sweeping fantasy full of intrigue and schemes, romance and friendship, and fearless explorers searching for the truth.
As the race to map the world continues, so does farmboy turned reluctant adventurer Quinn's voyage into the unknown. When the Libertas docks in the exotic jungle port, of Barbarin, they are shocked to discover another Verdanian living there - a notorious thief who has been on the run for decades. He and his family may be enemies of the King, but they can also help Quinn and his friends survive this dangerous land. After being betrayed by a fellow scribe, Quinn is captured by ruthless Gelynion explorer Juan Forden, who will stop at nothing to beat the Verdanians. On board Forden's ship, the Black Hawk, Quinn struggles to outwit his captors, makes new enemies and unexpected allies, and encounters bloodthirsty pirates. Is this the end of the race for Quinn - or just the beginning of another incredible adventure? THE MAPMAKER CHRONICLES continue in this rollicking story, filled with strange lands, dangerous creatures, secrets, pirates and fierce battles.
A beautifully illustrated full-color history of mapmaking across centuries -- a must-read for history buffs and armchair travelers. Theater of the World offers a fascinating history of mapmaking, using the visual representation of the world through time to tell a new story about world history and the men who made it. Thomas Reinertsen Berg takes us all the way from the mysterious symbols of the Stone Age to Google Earth, exploring how the ability to envision what the world looked like developed hand in hand with worldwide exploration. Along the way, we meet visionary geographers and heroic explorers along with other unknown heroes of the map-making world, both ancient and modern. And the stunning visual material allows us to witness the extraordinary breadth of this history with our own eyes.
