HICOTEA

In this sequel to Nightlights (2017), author/illustrator Alvarez transports readers into the fantastical world of protagonist Sandy’s vivid imagination for an escapade with an ecological bent.

As Sandy’s class gets ready for a field trip to a nearby wetland, a group of older girls on the other end of the science lab are dissecting a frog. The dissection goes wrong, the girls are grossed out, and the frog ends up out in the trash. Needless to say, spunky heroine Sandy is disturbed by the experience and has this on her mind as they go to the wetland. When Sandy wanders away from her classmates, she comes across what appears to be an empty turtle shell. Peering in, she tumbles into the shell and discovers a vast museum of sorts, curated by a turtle named Hicotea. What ensues is an adventure that straddles real life and a dream world—where one ends and the other begins is unimportant. The artwork is surreal and striking and the palette sumptuous. The story is set in Bogotá, the artist capturing the atmosphere of her hometown in all its color and variety. The characters in the book are as varied as their city, depicted in a range of skin colors that attests to its multiracial character.

Gorgeous and mesmerizing.