The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Hello everyone. I hope you're having a great day.

Can you read a map or do you depend only on GPS?  Heck, I remember when maps where huge, fold out, and free.  When was the last time you heard about anything useful being free?  A long time!  A few years ago, we bought our first car with GPS.  Shortly after getting it, we were going from Raleigh, North Carolina to Cape May, New Jersey.  We decided to let the GPS get us there.  It was a bit of an adventure.  Our first place to stop and get gas was surrounded by big huge buzzards.  Too bad I didn't look as beautiful as Tippi Hendren because I sure felt like her, there were dozens and dozens of the birds on top of each surface...waiting and watching for someone to keel over. They would surely devour that person in under thirty seconds. Then we were in northern Virginia, naturally it took us right through Washington.  Heck, it was a weekend so the roads weren't too crowded and we got a side show getting to see the Washington Monument under repair.  Oh yes, it was all urban-ly scenic until the football game got out and the roads became mass panic.  Next to cut over to the coast, GPS has us go through Philadelphia. I don't mean skirt Philly, I mean I could practically land a big old juicy kiss on the liberty bell as we drove (ever so slowly) by. New Jersey never looked so good. 

I recently read The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd.  This is the story of Nell, who loves maps.  She works in cartography in the New York Public Library and loves it.  Her father works there too.  All becomes unpleasant when Nell has a fight with her father about a cheap old fold out map.  He has her fired, causing a huge rift between them.  After resettling in a new life, Nell is suddenly called back to the library, where her father has been found dead.  Imagine Nell's surprise when she finds hidden in his belongings that old gas station map that had caused their estrangement.  Things get even more odd when she finds that there are very few of these gas station maps left in existence and someone is hunting down every last copy.

This book draws you in right from the beginning.  You'll find the book calling you back to read more every time you try and put it down. This mystery draws heavily from fantasy, so if you need everything to be realistic then this isn't the book for you.  If you want an interesting escape, this book will map out a journey to some unusual places (see what I did there?).  While I don't read fantasy in general, this really was an enjoyable story.

My negative sense of direction has me wondering what happens to GPS in bad weather or in a deeply wooded area?  It goes out?  I'll end up in another country!  Maybe paper back ups would be advisable for me.