The Blue Road: A Fable of Migration

by Wayde Compton (Text by), April dela Noche Milne (Illustrator)

Overview

In this stunning graphic novel, Lacuna is a girl without a family, a past, or a proper home. She lives alone in a swamp made of ink, but with the help of Polaris, a will-o’-the-wisp, she embarks for the fabled Northern Kingdom, where she might find people like her. The only way to get there, though, is to travel the strange and dangerous Blue Road that stretches to the horizon like a mark upon a page. Along the way, Lacuna must overcome trials such as the twisted briars of the Thicket of Tickets and the intractable guard at the Rainbow Border. At the end of her treacherous journey, she reaches a city where memory and vision can be turned against you, in a world of dazzling beauty, divisive magic, and unlikely deliverance. Finally, Lacuna learns that leaving, arriving, returning — they’re all just different words for the same thing: starting all over again.

The Blue Road — the first graphic novel by acclaimed poet and prose writer Wayde Compton and illustrator April dela Noche Milne — explores the world from a migrant’s perspective with dreamlike wonder.

Ages 12 and up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781551527772
Publisher:	Arsenal Pulp Press, Limited
Publication date:	10/22/2019
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Wayde Compton is the author of four books and the editor of two anthologies. His collection of short stories, The Outer Harbour, won the City of Vancouver Book Award in 2015, and he won a National Magazine Award for Fiction in 2011. Compton teaches Creative Writing at Douglas College in Vancouver. The Blue Road is based on a passage that first appeared in his debut poetry book 49th Parallel Psalm.

April dela Noche Milne is a Filipino Canadian artist based in Vancouver. She studied fine arts at Langara College and graduated with a BFA in illustration from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. The Blue Road is her first graphic novel.

Editorial Reviews

12/13/2019

Gr 7 Up—In this rich allegory about migration, a young woman named Lacuna has grown up alone in the Great Swamp of Ink. One day, a will-o-wisp appears and tells her that she was never allowed to live there. But by cleverly outsmarting the creature, Lacuna convinces it to spare her life. The will-o-wisp takes Lacuna to the edge of the forest, and she sets off north, to a kingdom where she hopes to make a life for herself. Along the way, she learns about the concept of borders and about the violent laws used to enforce them. She soon comes to understand the ways people in the kingdom separate from one another, as well. Lacuna's journey is rife with symbolism, as is the history of the kingdom and its treatment of its people. Featuring sumptuous colors and fluid line work, the blue-tinged artwork is breathtaking in detail, each panel a gorgeous portrait in its own right. Lyrical, at-times mystical writing lends a dreamy tone. The story is light on characterization, like a mixture of a graphic novel and a picture book. The multitude of metaphors might fly over the heads of younger readers, however—though they will be engaged if guided along by an older comics fan. VERDICT A sumptuous tale that will have thoughtful readers seriously grappling with issues such as migration and borders.—Matisse Mozer, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2019-10-06
A journey from swampy nothingness to fulfillment.

Lacuna knows her own name and little else. She cannot remember living anywhere other than the Great Swamp of Ink, where she senses that she is being watched. Polaris, a will-o'-the-wisp and magical guardian of the swamp, gives her a choice: Leave or die. Before heading north, Lacuna fills two gourds with swamp ink and soon encounters the Thicket of Tickets, where a forest of "admit one" tickets stands between her and the blue road leading to the Northern Kingdom. Once she emerges from the thicket and embarks upon the blue road, Lacuna realizes her trials are only beginning. Taking cues from The Wizard of Oz, Compton (The Outer Harbour, 2015, etc.) draws parallels between the confusing journey migrants face and Lacuna's journey. Compton's characters are intriguing; brown-skinned, curly-black-haired Lacuna is wily, smart, inventive, and empathetic, and her internal battles are thought-provoking. Her own resourcefulness and the different objects she gathers allow her to persevere in her perilous pilgrimage. Milne's (The Imperfect Garden, 2019, etc.) loose illustrations are colorful, featuring many gradations of blues, greens, and browns, and effectively convey the intensity of the journey. As the story leaves unanswered questions, it begs for a sequel. Characters are diverse, ranging in skin tone from beige to dark brown.

A touching allegory of the unexpected and burdensome trials of migration. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews