Hicotea

On a school field trip to the river, Sandy wanders away from her classmates and discovers an empty turtle shell. Peeking through the dark hole, she suddenly finds herself within a magical new dimension. Filled with sculptures, paintings and books, the turtle’s shell is a museum of the natural world. But one painting is incomplete, and the turtle needs Sandy’s help to finish it…

• The greatly anticipated sequel to Nightlights, which received glowing reviews including starred reviews from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books and Publishers Weekly, and was chosen as Best Children’s Book of 2017 by the New York Public Library
• Reflects on the importance of respecting the natural world
• A wonderfully imaginative story with enchanting illustrations that will entrance readers once again into Lorena Alvarez’s world

“Winner of the 2019 Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award from Comic Con International Finalist for Pop Culture Classroom 's 2020 EGL Award, Best in Middle-Grade Graphic Literature and the Mosaic Award Finalist for Maryland's 2020 Black-Eyed Susan Book Award for Graphic Novels, Grades 4-6 "Alvarez has a marvelous gift for creating original and enticing flora and fauna in unexpected color combinations; these are worlds readers will wish to enter." -- School Library Journal "The artwork is surreal and striking and the palette sumptuous. The story is set in Bogot”

The intoxicating weirdness and saturated colour characteristic of Alvarez's artwork, filled with luminous spheres and horrifying transformations, and the demands she places on her readers as she guides them into liminal spaces of imagination, boredom and dream, are revisited in Hicotea. TLS
The characters are full of life and emotion, environments have strong tones, and the storytelling is complex and satisfying. Graphic Novel Resources
Hicotea is another treasure from Alvarez. The subtext is again the power of imagination to overcome obstacles, with just the right touch of mysticism to engage, and the drawing is again a delight. -- Ian Keogh The Slings & Arrows Graphic Novel Guide

Lorena Alvarez was born and raised in Bogotá, and studied Graphic Design and Arts at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. She has illustrated for Puffin Books, Faber & Faber, Usborne Books, Parragon, Boom! Studios, Nickelodeon and Disney. Since 2008, she has been part of “La Procesión Puppet Club”, an experimental puppetry group of illustrators and visual artists.

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