In this mesmerising follow-up to Nightlights, Lorena Alvarez explores our relationship with nature and animals. 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 incom-plete, and the turtle needs Sandy's help to finish it...

"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." - The Slings & Arrows Graphic Novel Guide