Four children temporarily lose their parents just as they are about to begin the race that offers their last chance of escaping poverty. Their task is to map a rail route through an uncharted wilderness. They overcome the many obstacles posed by nature-bears, bees, bats, river crossings, cliff falls, impossible weather-but can they survive the treachery of their competitors? This is a fast-paced and charming novel. Its children are brave and competent but not always right. Its world is magical enough to be intriguing but close enough to our own to keep the reader on firm ground.

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.