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June 15, 2019
Two girls navigate friendship, relationships, grief, and the Great Loop. Willa and Taylor's friendship is tenuous at best now that their mutual friend Finley is gone. The girls set off during the summer before college to sail part of the Great Loop, a network of waterways, from Sandusky, Ohio, to Key West, Florida. The pair is fulfilling a deathbed promise they made to Finley by completing the trip the three had intended to take together. To help guide their adventure, they follow a list of clues that Finley created before she died of leukemia. While both girls must figure out how to go on without their best friend, brown-skinned Willa also must reconcile her relationship with her single white mother and make a decision about her future: Will she do what is practical or follow her passion? Taylor, who is white, is coming to terms with her sexuality and working through insecurities she felt in her relationships with Finley and Willa. Both girls eventually learn just how strong they are. The matter of Willa's ethnicity--her father's identity is unknown--feels unresolved. Doller (In a Perfect World, 2017, etc.) effectively tackles the difficult emotions that come with losing your best friend. Clear and evocative descriptions of the mechanics of sailing and the many places the girls visit en route enhance the novel. While not groundbreaking, this is an enjoyable voyage to take. (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 19, 2019

Gr 9 Up-Willa, Taylor, and Finley had plans to spend the summer after high school graduation sailing from Sandusky, OH, to Key West, FL, in an old sailboat they purchased two years earlier. Finley is better friends with the other two than they are with each other, and she knows that her time with them is limited. Finley's 13-year battle against cancer is over. But before she is gone, she sets up the trip for Willa and Taylor-with 14 instructions-knowing that they will need this journey more than ever. What follows is a story both heartbreaking and hopeful as the two girls try to define themselves and their friendship without the one person who held them together. While there are love interests mentioned, the focus of the book is on female friendships and how the two girls navigate life in the wake of grief. The story is told in alternating point-of-view chapters from the two protagonists. Each character is well-drawn and the story is authentic. Neither Willa nor Taylor are perfect and not everything turns out OK, because that's how real life goes. VERDICT A great summer read combining a story of friendship, soul-searching, and an epic road trip. Recommended for fans of Sarah Dessen.-Elaine Baran Black, Georgia Public Library Service, Atlanta

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 The only thing Willa and Taylor have in common is Finley, the best friend who died just before graduation. Willa and Taylor could happily go their separate ways?their own friendship splintered years ago?but Finley was clear: she wants them to sail from their Ohio town down to Florida, and she's provided them with a coded list of things to accomplish along the way. Practical Willa, who's grown up with a flaky single mom and not much money, is the experienced sailor, but giving up her summer job has left her anxious. Privileged Taylor, who's been hiding the depth of her feelings for Finley and the truth of what this trip means to her, barely knows her way around a boat. Doller takes the classic road-trip trope and gives it a seafaring twist, following her characters mile by nautical mile as they learn to connect with each other and deal with their grief. Teens after summertime reads that tug at the heartstrings will be happy to take the journey with them.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)