When sixteen-year-old Gaugh is sent east from his father’s house, he is given no escort, no explanation, and no promise of when the road will end — only an ancient map, a hidden reserve, and a warning to be careful of company. But the map refuses to agree with the earth. It shows cities where there are only oceans, oceans where there are only streets, and deserts hidden among ordinary villages. Along the way, Gaugh meets smooth-tongued strangers, watchful thieves, generous employers, dangerous scholars, and one quiet companion who says almost nothing and means all of it. Written in an old-world literary style, *The Map’s Secret* is a tale of mystery, danger, and becoming. It is an adventure through country that is never quite what it appears to be — and, beneath the road, an allegory of the journey every person must take through this world. Not every map shows the road. Some reveal the traveller.