A Scott O'Dell Award-winning graphic novelist follows three dauntless adventurers on a Jules Verne-inspired challenge: circling the world, solo!As the nineteenth century wound down, a public inspired by the novel Around the World in Eighty Days clamored for intrepid adventure. The challenge of circumnavigating the globe as no one ever had before—a feat assuring fame if not fortune—attracted the fearless in droves. Three hardy spirits stayed the course: In 1884, former miner Thomas Stevens made the journey on a bicycle, the kind with a big front wheel. In 1889, pioneer reporter Nellie Bly embarked on a global race against time that assumed the heights of spectacle, ushering in the age of the American celebrity. And in 1895, retired sea captain Joshua Slocum quietly set sail on a thirty-six-foot sloop, braving pirates and treacherous seas to become the first person to sail around the world alone. With cinematic pacing and deft, expressive art, acclaimed graphic novelist Matt Phelan weaves a trio of epic journeys into a single bold tale of three visionaries who set their sights on nothing short of the world.
Matt Phelan is the author-illustrator of the highly acclaimed and award-winning graphic novel
The Storm in the Barn. He is also the illustrator of many books for young readers, including
Always and
I’ll Be There by Ann Stott and
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, winner of the 2007 Newbery Medal. He lives in Philadelphia.
A first-rate pleasure from the acclaimed graphic novelist Phelan. And this book — riveting, wondrously drawn, expertly paced — is a triumph in and of itself.
—The New York Times
With uncommon perception and a flair for visual drama, Phelan tracks three intrepid souls' solo journeys around the world...Three true tales of adventure as grand and admirable in the telling as they were in the doing.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
A graphic novel that will appeal to aficionados of the form and any reader in search of engrossing true journeys.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
The stories encompass such national ideals as dogged can-do spirit, exploration, enterprise, and commercialism...the very essence of determination and adventure.
—Booklist (starred review)
Phelan invests each tale with its own distinct mood and style.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
