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All along, Soontornvat (a Newbery honoree for “A Wish in the Dark”) skillfully uses tropes to throw us off. Introduce a young, woebegone heroine questing after a flying monster for glory and the reader can’t help chasing the dragon with her.
―The New York Times Book Review

Exploits on the high seas and complex characters combine in a tale full of both excitement and heart. An engrossing adventure with the feeling of a whole world to be explored.
―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Soontornvat deftly discusses themes of colonization and “discovery,”. . . Employing a presumed Asian cast of well-developed crew members with various skin tones and plenty of emotional depth, this high seas adventure deftly explores complex power dynamics and class hierarchies while maintaining a fast-paced clip.
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The spare, evocative prose immediately places readers in the hold of the story, and the Dickensian colorfulness of the characters and Sai’s clipped delivery will have kids tearing through pages at an eager pace. Soontornvat brings a naturalness to her worldbuilding in this Thai-inspired landscape that will allow fans of magical realism and high adventure to find a tale worth cherishing. . . . A gripping story with multiple layers, including action, magic, and a ­thought-provoking through line of colonization and the role of manifest destiny, this original novel will leave middle grade readers wanting to journey through this land of dreams and dragons again and again.
―School Library Journal (starred review)

A gutsy young apprentice sails off the edge of the map in this bold, high-stakes fantasy adventure . . . The high action factor and hints at possible dragon appearances makes The Last Mapmaker a solid bet to draw a middle-grade audience, and subtle themes of anti-imperialism and environmental preservation add an appealing social message. . . . This bighearted, moving tale of finding one's place and living by a moral compass is eminently seaworthy and set in a rich, thoughtfully built world.
―Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Class structure, imperial greed, and environmental ravages underpin the narrative arc of this fantastical adventure story, resonating with our own contemporary issues. At the same time, Soontornvat’s Thai-inspired culture and geography provide a vivid backdrop. With emphasis on an intricate plot and quick, accessible prose, Soontornvat provides plenty of excitement while bringing questions of expansionism and de-colonization to young readers.
―The Horn Book

Action drives the narrative forward, creating a real page-turner with intriguing characters. . . Blending Age of Sail historical fiction, adventure, and fantasy within a Thai-inspired setting, this original novel will leave readers hoping for sequels.
―Booklist

For a rousing middle grade adventure filled with scrappy young characters taking control of their own destinies, seek out this latest offering from Christina Soontornvat. . . . This title allows readers to practically smell the salty sea air and feel the creak of wood under their feet as they search the unfolding horizon for land alongside Sai. Even the cover is compelling. . . Students will enjoy exploring the themes of family, fate, and redemption through Sai.
―School Library Connection

With action that moves faster than a ship under full sail, The Last Mapmaker is a Thai-inspired fantasy brimming with adventure, surprises and betrayal. . . Soontornvat returns to high fantasy to create the Thai-inspired world of The Last Mapmaker, a standalone tale into which she seamlessly incorporates themes of colonialism and environmentalism.
―BookPage

Urgent and earnest. . . This is a deftly told story with a strong anti-colonialist vibe.
―The Wall Street Journal

Even as it delves into questions about exploration, power and responsibility, ‘The Last Mapmaker’ offers a twisty, entertaining tale of discovery.
―The Washington Post

Soontornvat’s rich world-building and characters help expand our definition of what it means to be a hero.
―The Star Tribune

In this thrilling adventure of a mapmaker's young assistant and their voyage beyond the known world, the versatile Christina Soontornvat again displays the impressive talent for world building that made her 2021 Newbery Honor book “A Wish in the Dark" so compelling. . . . Along with a colorful cast of characters including a female ship captain and a pickpocket/stowaway, Soontornvat offers vivid details of the voyage, fairy tale elements and surprise twists even as it touches on issues of colonialism and environmental exploitation.
―The Buffalo News

A sweeping fantasy tale of one girl’s journey on the high seas, past her family’s secrets and moving toward dreams of a better world.
―Austin360

Get ready for adventure, drama and danger!
―Book Riot

Here you find yourself in the presence of a master. How is it that [Soontornvat] is capable of completely realistic world building, character development, and descriptive (not to mention beautiful) writing -all within the span of a mere 359 pages? The Last Mapmaker offers readers proof positive that you can write succinctly, sacrificing nothing, while showing your readers absolutely everything.
―A Fuse #8 Production

Chapter One
A Golden Morning

I must have looked like all the other Assistants standing in line for breakfast that morning at the Three Onions Cafe. We all wore the same starched white shirts, gray trousers, and stiff black cotton aprons with deep pockets. The Assistant’s uniform was meant to put each of us on the same level, making us equals for the one year we would spend in service.
What a joke.
We may have worn the same clothes, but it was still clear as glass where we stood. We knew without asking who among us had carriages and who had to walk, whose mothers held important positions on this or that council, which of us had maids and which ones had to clean out their own bed pots. No one ever said anything, but we knew.
I lingered at the back of the line, doing my impression of the shy girl: feet tilted inward, head tipped down, looking like someone who had nothing to add to the conversation. You could learn more about people if they didn’t think you were worth talking to, and I had a whole list of other details I needed to pay close attention to if I was going to play along with them.
Hair: combed free of lice and braided lovingly by my “mother” (or even better―my “maid”). Fingernails: cleaned out and filed. Shoes: the right kind, purchased from the right shop, shined, and with nothing icky sticking to the soles. Spine: held straight, as if I were proud of where I came from and had a bright future to look forward to.
Grumble!
I coughed to mask the sound of my growling stomach. A full belly was the one thing I couldn’t fake, and coming to the Three Onions in the morning only made the grumbling worse. The steam in the wood-paneled restaurant smelled of fresh oysters, chopped garlic, and green herbs. It took real effort not to stick out my tongue and lick the air.
Something felt different from other mornings, though. The kids in line were chattier than usual. A tall Assistant leaned her elbow on the counter while the others pressed in close, hanging on her words.
I called her Tippy because of the way she tipped her head back to look down at the rest of us. I didn’t know much about her except that she worked for a Master Pastry Chef near the temple square. Tippy had always been popular and pretty, but that morning, she was glowing.
She laughed and smoothed her long braid over her shoulder. The light from the cafe windows bounced off something golden and shiny at her wrist.
So that was it. A lineal.
A pang of jealousy worked its way into my empty stomach. She must have turned thirteen the day before.
The other Assistants pushed in closer to gape at Tippy’s gold bracelet. “Hold it up so we can all see!” said one of them. “Oh, it’s so pretty!”
The others oohed and aahed as Tippy held up her wrist and gave the bracelet a little jangle.
“How many links is that―five?” asked another girl, unable to hide the envy in her voice. That spring, she had been the first among us to get her lineal. She touched it now self-consciously: four golden loops hanging from a brooch pinned to her blouse.
Tippy answered, a little too loudly, “Actually, it’s seven.”
Everyone murmured and pressed in closer to count the golden rings of her bracelet for themselves.
Each link in a lineal represented one generation of ancestors―ancestors whose names you knew, ones you were proud to claim.
In my mind, I let out a snort. With a background that fine, what was she doing as a baker’s Assistant?
Suddenly, I realized that all the eyes in the cafe had turned to me.
Tripe! At least I thought I’d snorted in my mind.
Tippy narrowed her eyes at me. “You, at the back of the line. What’s your name?”
“Order forty-nine!” shouted a shrill voice behind the counter.
Thank the heavens!
I squeezed past the girls to get to the counter, then bowed to Mrs. Noom and took the container of porridge from her. “Thank you, ma’am,” I said in the meekest version of my shy-girl voice. “I had better be going. I’m already late!”
I could feel the other Assistants’ eyes on me as I passed. I knew they were sizing me up. They couldn’t look down their noses at me until they figured out which rung of the ladder I stood on.
And what if they knew the truth―that I wasn’t even on the ladder? That in a few months, when I turned thirteen, there wouldn’t be so much as a cake crumb, let alone a lineal celebration? I had no proud family line, no noble ancestors. There was exactly one link to my past, and it certainly wasn’t made of gold.
If they knew the truth, they would think I was nothing.
And who could blame them?

A Newbery Honor Book
A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Teen Readers

From Christina Soontornvat, the visionary and versatile author of two 2021 Newbery Honor Books, comes a high-seas adventure set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world.

In a fantasy adventure every bit as compelling and confident in its world building as her Newbery Honor Book A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat explores a young woman’s struggle to unburden herself of the past and chart her own destiny in a world of secrets. As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman―and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands―a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining―she must weigh the cost of her dreams. Vivid, suspenseful, and thought-provoking, this tale of identity and integrity is as beautiful and intricate as the maps of old.