The Doldrums - Hardcover

Nicholas Gannon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0008149399 ISBN 13: 9780008149390

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books, 2015

Synopsis

[Children's Fiction (Ages 8 -12)]

Have you ever wanted to hold a little piece of the impossible? The Doldrums is an extraordinary debut about friendship, imagination, and the yearning for adventure, from author-artist Nicholas Gannon. A modern classic in the making, The Doldrums is for readers of inventive and timeless authors such as Brian Selznick and Lemony Snicket.

Archer B. Helmsley wants an adventure. No, he needs an adventure. His grandparents were famous explorers ... until they got stuck atop that iceberg. Now Archer's mother barely lets him out of the house. As if that would stop a true Helmsley. Archer enlists Adelaide, the girl who, according to rumor, lost her leg to a crocodile; and Oliver, the boy next door, to help him rescue his grandparents.

Author-artist Nicholas Gannon's imagination is even more fantastic than Archer's. The Doldrums whisks us off on an adventure full of sly humor, incredible detail, and enormous heart. With gorgeous, literary writing, Nicholas Gannon proves himself to be a rare and distinctive new talent. Be in it for the limitless imagination, for the characters who capture your heart, and for the rich world you'll want to settle into. But most of all, be in it for the friendship. That, after all, is the true adventure.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Archer B. Helmsley has grown up in a house full of oddities and treasures collected by his grandparents, the famous explorers. He knows every nook and cranny. He knows them all too well. After all, ever since his grandparents went missing on an iceberg, his mother barely lets him leave the house.

Archer B. Helmsley longs for adventure. Grand adventures, with parachutes and exotic sunsets and interesting characters. But how can he have an adventure when he can't leave his house?

It helps that he has friends like Adélaïde L. Belmont, who must have had many adventures since she ended up with a wooden leg. (Perhaps a crocodile ate it. Perhaps not.) And Oliver Glub. Oliver will worry about all the details (so that Archer doesn't have to).

And so Archer, Adélaïde, and Oliver make a plan. A plan to get out of the house, out of their town entirely. It's a good plan.

Well, it's not bad, anyway.

But nothing goes quite as they expect.

About the Author:

Nicholas Gannon is a graduate of Parsons School for Design. He has lived in many places since his childhood, including Minnesota and upstate New York, but he now resides in Brooklyn, New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0008149399
• ISBN 13: 9780008149390
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368