Uprising

The Mapmakers #2

by Eirlys Hunter, Kirsten Slade (Illustrator)

The land holds the truth … the maps will reveal it.

Sal, Joe, Francie and Humphrey Santander are mapmakers looking for their father, a famous explorer who disappeared on his last expedition.

Their search takes them to Cruxcia, where the people are fighting to protect their land from the all-powerful Grania Trading Company. The Santanders’ mapping skills may be the missing piece in the Cruxcian race to save the ancient valley—and the key to reuniting their family.

A follow-up to the internationally successful The Mapmakers’ Race—the Santander children are drawn into a community’s rebellion against a despot and use their mapping skills to avert an environmental scam.

Genres: Middle Grade

246 pages, Paperback

Published November 2, 2021

About the author

Eirlys Hunter is a London-born fiction writer who moved to Wellington, New Zealand in 1983. She has published several books for children including The Robber and the Millionaire which was short-listed for the 1997 Aim Children's Book Awards. Hunter's first novel for adults, Between Black and White, was published in 2000. She has had stories published in Landfall, Sport, and various anthologies.
Eirlys Hunter teaches Writing for Children at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University.

Reviews

[Bridget]

This book, which is the sequel to The Mapmakers Race, is a treat to read. I so much enjoyed entering the world of the Santander family again. This time the family, having found their Mother, are trying desperately to get their Father out of jail. He has been taken to a prison by a despot and will soon be moved to a secret location. The children and their band of helpers must race to save him before it is too late. This time there is a lot less mapmaking, but plenty of adventure. As we race to the finish line the tension is ramped up and I found myself turning the pages at an enormous pace.

When I think about what it is that makes this book and it's predecessor so very good, I think that it is partly the tone, they feel good, they feel like this family, with all their different skills and talents, are able to see the strength in each other. Each of the children have a special gift and this makes them very loveable for their individuality. They work together for the common goal and to overcome so many troubles, while being individually strong. There is also the sense of fun, little moments of joy and humour which break the tension and keep you bonded to the characters.

In this second outing we meet some new and delightful characters, this leaves scope for a third in the series. I be totally there for a third.

If you are a teacher and are looking for a book to read to a class of 9 - 13 year olds, then I can thoroughly recommend this book and The Mapmakers Race. I think your students will love you for introducing them to this adventurous bunch of kids.

I was thrilled to receive a reading copy of this fantastic book from Gecko Press and I heartily thank them for the opportunity to read it.

[Vicki Antipodean Bookclub]

A middle grade fantasy adventure
The Uprising: The Mapmakers in Cruxcia is the sequel to The Mapmakers Race. Sal, Francie and Humphrey Santander continue the search for their father in Cruxia, a land that is six days ride by camel or a few hours by air travel in a dirigible. There is unrest brewing in Cruxcia as the Grania Trading Company and its Director increase their stranglehold on the land’s wealth and resources. The director has employed a team of mapmakers to chart Cruxcia’s most ancient valley with the spot it’s people hold most sacred and it seems the mapmakers don’t want any competition. Into this quagmire step the Santander children and the hunt for their father also becomes a fight for Cruxcia and its people. A joyous, page-turner of an adventure with a hint of steam-punk

[Wendy Bamber]

Everything I loved about the first book is there again in the second and it was a delight to return to this family. The children are thrown into forced independence again which they respond to with equal resilience as in the first book, only this time they have a base and the support of their kind of people. You get the sense of an overriding danger in the community from The Custodians, the local guards who are protecting the mayor’s dark secrets. It took me a while on this one, I would have liked to have given it a single sitting in order to appreciate the pace better, but still one to easily sell to the year 5/6 crowd.

[Alice]

The sequel to The Mapmakers Race (also a great read), this book can be read as a standalone, but benefits from the character development in the first book. This story has more emotion and heart than the first book and is a great way for children (and grown ups) to consider the impacts of colonisation, oppression, and land theft, as well as the power of people to act for good.

[Kate McAllan]

I loved The Mapmakers' Race, and found this sequel just as endearing, thought-provoking and funny. It is a great introduction for kids to ideas about the importance of preserving our environment and communities, as well as the hope that collective action gives us to protect our world and make it better. If all this sounds rather heavy going, never fear. The sweet and hilarious Santander children and the richly described world save the story from being smothered by such serious themes. Simply a beautiful book.

Favourite lines:
'He [Joe] found him [Humphrey] lying in the hammock on the roof, eating his way through the basket of kleffi. Hercules the cat lay on top of him. Humph's face was covered in sugar.
"I said I was going to die of starvy-ness." Humph didn't even look guilty.'

[Ghazaal B.]

(من جلد اول (رقابت کوهستانی) رو خیلی خیلی بیشتر دوست داشتم.
در این جلد احساس می‌کردم نویسنده با عجله داره قصه رو به سرانجام می‌رسونه و رشته‌های باز مونده رو می‌بنده. بی‌عجلگیِ جلد اول، جزییات هر روز و معرفی و پردازش و دقیق‌تر شدن در روابط بین شخصیت‌ها، خیلی برام دوست‌داشتنی‌تر و گیراتر بود.

[Tammy Peart]

Excellent sequel to The Mapmakers Race. Different type of adventure but pulled everything together and a happy ending. Read as read-aloud kids 11 and 8 loved it.

[Silvia Galline Volanti]

Bello, a mio avviso meno riuscito del primo volume