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. With a tone that recalls classic fantasy stories, and some clever choices in symbolism, The Blue Road seems like a must-read for younger people as well as adults. - The Comics Beat The prose harvested from Wayde Compton's short story for this graphic-novel adaptation only emphasizes the creativity of the plot in his heroine's journey to the Northern Kingdom, a pointed immigration allegory. But it's April dela Noche Milne's vibrant illustrations - pools of saturated colours that contrast with squiggles of energetic line work - that give the story new life. - Quill and Quire (A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR) 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.