Amelia Erroway: Castaway Commander: A Graphic Novel

by Betsy Peterschmidt

Overview

Being lost can sometimes be the first step toward finding your destiny.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Forbidden to become a pilot by her overprotective father, Amelia Erroway yearns to command her own airship. To prove her worth, she sets off alone on her father's prized craft. But disaster strikes: A fierce storm crashes her ship in uncharted lands and Amelia, now a castaway, must use her wits to survive. With the help of Rastor and Fynley, brothers who live deep in the Juniper rainforest, Amelia is determined to repair her airship and, with her newly formed crew, fly home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338186123
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/03/2021
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	627,085
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	GN310L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

B.C. Peterschmidt has dreamed their entire life of being a visual storyteller. Born and raised in Minnesota, B.C began their career as a freelance illustrator, later graduating from Pratt Institute. They have illustrated book covers for Diana Wynne Jones's The Island of Chaldea and Naomi Shihab Nye's The Turtle of Oman. Their work is published in Marvel's New York Times bestselling anthology Out of the Past and also appears in Frank Beddor’s Hatter Madigan series. B. C. Peterschmidt now makes their home in California.

Editorial Reviews

07/26/2021

Adapted from the author-illustrator’s webcomic, Peterschmidt’s debut graphic novel is charismatic and visually arresting, following blonde, light-skinned Amelia Erroway, 12, who, chafing at the limits imposed by her strict father, somewhat accidentally steals his state-of-the-art airship. Caught in a powerful storm, Amelia crashes deep in an unknown part of the vast Juniper rainforest, far from home. Taken in by brown-skinned twin brothers Rastor and Fynley Huxley and their mother Lyla, the only nearby human rainforest residents, Amelia enlists their aid in an ambitious plan to repair the damaged airship and return triumphantly home. Bande dessinée–inflected characters emote dramatically atop gorgeous watercolors that bleed across panels and pages in a vibrant, chaotic sprawl. From a lush, claustrophobic jungle to glimpses of a fanciful cityscape, the vivid physical setting is fully inhabited by a distinctly drawn cast of characters and creatures. The sentient draco-avian Ayvens are particularly fantastic, as are meticulously designed flying machines, based on real engineering principles and presented in interspersed schematic diagrams. Featuring spotlight-stealing worldbuilding, the story, like the art, is loose and occasionally messy; still, it’s filled with the characters’ contagious delight for science, flight, and adventure. Back matter includes an author’s note. Ages 8–12. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

2021-06-01
A rambunctious young girl does exactly what you’d expect with her father’s airship.

Twelve-year-old Amelia Erroway is not allowed out of her room while her father’s ornithopter is in flight—but try telling her that. She might look the proper Victorian(ish) lady in her sashed dress, but she daringly climbs on the outside of the airship while it’s aloft. Wide views of the craft provide a treat for any steampunk enthusiast; while the Intrepyd Ray is not at all convincingly airworthy, it cuts an elegant, avian figure in the classical fantasy landscape. Of course Amelia rushes to take it off by herself the moment she gets a chance in a bid to prove to her father that she is too ready to become a commander like him. It’s no surprise that she crashes spectacularly, and in the Juniper, a dangerous rainforest, to boot. Luckily, she meets Rastor and Fynley, a pair of cute and equally rambunctious brothers with a kindly mom, who are only too happy to help her rebuild her ship and call her commander. With a science-minded trio to cheer for and several labeled diagrams to delight the meticulous, the story telegraphs its young nerds’ success, though Amelia’s final choice still comes as a surprise. The watercolor-style illustrations in intense jewel tones convey a sense of wonder. Amelia and her father are White; the brothers and their mom have brown skin and dark hair.

Adventures galore. (author's note) (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

07/30/2021

Gr 3–6—Swirling landscapes and fantastic inventions compete for attention in this visual feast. Amelia is bored with her life of privilege as daughter of a famous airship captain, but when she takes her father's ship out, she crash-lands in uncharted territory. Now all she wants is to return to her beloved papa and comfortable life in the city. Luckily, she's not far from the tree house home of free-spirited twins Rastor and Fynley and their engineer/medic mother. Fynley and Rastor just happen to be inventors with a workshop and a forge and are as reckless as she is. Lots of slapstick balanced with disappointment ensues as they work together to devise transportation that will deliver Amelia back home. But the art is the real star of this book—sheer watercolors in candy hues billow across the page in luscious, rounded shapes, while airships and other machinery are as detailed and luxe as tall ships. Although the book has a lot of energy, with excitable characters who do a lot of yelling and whooping and finishing one another's sentences, the story is oddly languorous. Scenes frequently span multiple pages, and one line of dialogue may stretch across many panels. But for fantastical adventure with a side of engineering that is also a master class in painting fantasy clouds, vines, foliage, and water, Amelia and her friends will satisfy. Amelia is white, while Rastor and Fynley are brown-skinned. VERDICT Appealing characters and fascinating art make up for a slow story.—Paula Willey, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore

School Library Journal