Hippolyte's Island — Barbara Hodgson

From an acclaimed author and artist, this “cleverly illustrated novel takes reads on a fabulous journey [and] a touching pilgrimage of faith” (Publishers Weekly).

Adventurer and travel writer Hippolyte Web has set his sights on an expedition to the Auroras, a group of tiny islands in the South Atlantic that haven't been spotted in centuries. Equipped with outdated charts, an inadequate sailboat, and an advance for a book about his quest, the trip soon leads to discoveries beyond anything he could have imagined. But the challenges that he meets are nothing compared to those that await him when he returns.
Marie Simplon, his no-nonsense book editor, is more than a little skeptical of Hippolyte's strange tale. As he inundates her with centuries-old maps, sketches, and specimens, she is drawn into the mysterious details of his voyage. The two are soon joined in a race -- Hippolyte to prove his islands exist, Marie to refute his claims. But Marie's conflicting emotions about the journey and the man lead her on her own quest to discover for herself the limits of logic and the power of belief.