Hicotea

With the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards winners announced earlier this month, I thought I would highlight some of the fine books I read as part of my role as Assistant Chair of the Middle Grades Jury. First off is this book, Hicotea, which was a nominee in the Middle Grades category and is also a good book to read this time of year with the 50th Earth Day just around the corner.

This book's creator Lorena Alvarez won the 2019 Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award during the Eisner Awards. Hicotea is her second graphic novel, a sequel to Nightlights, featuring the same protagonist, Sandy, only in a different setting that makes no reference to the first book. Here, she and her class take a trip to a local wetland to gather specimens for science class. She happens upon an empty turtle shell, and then ends up in a magical space that is part museum/part library/part portal, curated by animals and full of all sorts of paintings, books, and other works about the natural world.  

While in this magical (or is it imagined?) space, Sandy learns about nature and also a number of threats it faces. These threats are embodied by dissecting tables, polluted ponds, and a sinister flock of black birds, from which Sandy has to use her wits and imagination to escape. This book works in a very organic manner, and I was impressed by how it features a strong environmental message without being didactic or preachy.

And as you can see from the excerpts above, the artwork is one of the major draws in this book. It is gorgeously and lushly illustrated, full of exquisite double page spreads. The characters are full of life and emotion, environments have strong tones, and the storytelling is complex and satisfying. This book is one well worth visiting and revisiting.

All of the reviews I've read of this book have been celebratory. Brigid Alverson called Alvarez "truly gifted." Johanna Draper Carlson opined that "the images are worth getting lost in, and the books can be looked at over and over, with new things discovered every time."  Gene Ambaum wrote, "The drawings, and particularly the colors, are absolutely dazzling."

Hicotea was published by NoBrow Press, and they offer a preview and much more here.