A review by bluestjuice
Compass South: A Graphic Novel (Four Points, Book 1) by Hope Larson

3.0

In what is at this point an endless tangle, somehow Nell and I recommended this series back and forth to each other (but we both ended up reading book 2 first). This is book 1. I picked it up because I don't like reading series out of order, but unfortunately since it had been a few months since I read the other installation I no longer remember some of the finer plot points from that book and can't remember how anything develops from here. But anyway! This is a graphic novel written at a children's reading level, about twins (this book actually has two sets of twins!) and their semi-orphaned adventures on pirate and other ships on their way to San Francisco. It touches loads of classic child adventure novel tropes (think Treasure Island, Oliver Twist, The Swiss Family Robinson, etc.), but in an updated way that is much more likely to appeal to modern children who have a hard time connecting with antiquated writing styles and genres. (Oh, I got a little bit of Twelfth Night in here too, with the twins-dressing-as-boys element.)

Anyway, I liked it, and my kid was super excited when she saw I had it and demanded that I hand it over at once so she could devour it. (I didn't - I finished it first. She can request her own books from the library, haha!) It's not really substantial enough to earn a more glowing rating, but that is more down to my own interest in the genre and the necessary limitations of the genre than the merits of the writing and art within those constraints. I'd definitely recommend.