Summary: "Miranda has a plan: ace her junior year, get into an Ivy League school, and skip anything that doesn't look good on a college application. But the pressure is getting to her, and now her parents have cut her off from every club, competition, and committee she's a part of. Desperate to get back on track, Miranda sets her sights on the Texas Water Safari--a 260-mile canoe race her mom was set to do with her granddad. When her mom is sidelined by an injury, Miranda joins her grandfather. It's grueling, messy, and scorching hot. Can a perfectionist survive the wild long enough to find out who she is outside of a college checklist?"--Provided by publisher.
Miranda needs something to write about in her college application essays. But what?
Miranda has a plan: ace her junior year, get into an Ivy League school, and skip anything that doesn't look good on a college application. But the pressure is getting to her, and now her parents have cut her off from every club, competition, and committee she's a part of.
Desperate to get back on track, Miranda sets her sights on the Texas Water Safari--a 260-mile canoe race her mom was set to do with her granddad. With her mom sidelined by an injury, Miranda joins her grandfather. It's grueling, messy, and scorching hot.
Can a perfectionist survive the wild long enough to find out who she is outside of a college checklist?
"Miranda has a plan: ace her junior year, get into an Ivy League school, and skip anything that doesn't look good on a college application. But the pressure is getting to her, and now her parents have cut her off from every club, competition, and committee she's a part of. Desperate to get back on track, Miranda sets her sights on the Texas Water Safari--a 260-mile canoe race her mom was set to do with her granddad. When her mom is sidelined by an injury, Miranda joins her grandfather. It's grueling, messy, and scorching hot. Can a perfectionist survive the wild long enough to find out who she is outside of a college checklist?"--Provided by publisher.
14-18.
Grades 09-12.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
School Library Journal Review
Gr 10 Up--Miranda Moore is a girl with a plan. She's determined to ace her junior year and perfect her transcripts for Ivy League applications. Unfortunately, the pressure from school, clubs, and insecurities catches up to her, and she burns out. After her parents demand Miranda take a break from everything, she sets her eyes on competing in the Texas Water Safari, a 260-mile canoe race, with her grandfather. At first, training for the race seems like little more than an excellent way to gain experiences that Miranda can use for her college essays. However, she quickly finds that the race is more than rowing and that she needs to learn how to be resilient whenever the river changes direction. Over the course of the book, lessons are imparted as Miranda's experiences refute her notion that life is supposed to follow the path she neatly paved for herself. The use of colors emphasizes the mood and the tone throughout the narrative, starting with highlighting elements of depression through visuals of the bodies of water, and ending with components of happiness and blue skies. Miranda is white. VERDICT This insightful view into how to deal with setbacks at all stages of life is a recommended purchase for collections serving teens.--Lois Young
Booklist Review
Miranda is obsessed with attending an Ivy, and when she sees an opportunity for the perfect college-essay fodder--competing in a 260-mile canoe race with her grandfather--she ignores her parents' qualms and begins training. She starts out fantasizing about winning, but her grandfather says they'll be in the back of the pack and reminds her that there's lots of value in trying something knowing you won't be the best. Broyles and Schroy spend the bulk of the book on Miranda's grueling experience of the canoe race, involving aching muscles, dangerous rapids, and some mind-numbing tedium, and it's an effective metaphor for her gradually shifting attitudes about what constitutes success and achievement. Schroy's thick-lined artwork in a limited palette of blue and purple nicely renders the action of the race, especially in montages and when both Miranda and her grandfather start feeling delirious from fatigue. Subplots involving crushes and her parents' life in addiction recovery keep the journey nicely grounded. Teens who appreciate underdog athlete stories about personal growth will like this.
Kirkus Book Review
On the cusp of college admissions season, pressure swamps a high school junior's carefully planned life. High achiever Miranda obsesses over grades, activities, and applications until stress pushes her to take two of her mom's pain pills. Her alarmed parents, who are both in recovery, make her pull back from her packed schedule despite her Ivy League dreams. When her hypercompetitive mom injures her back playing roller derby, Miranda uses her newfound free time to step in as her grandfather's partner for the grueling 260-mile Texas Water Safari canoe race, hoping the experience will help her "write the most amazing college essay." On the river, punishing heat and portages as well as hallucinations test both paddlers as Miranda slowly learns that finishing with pride matters more than winning. Rounded linework, subtle textures, and a limited, cool-toned palette create a playful, character-driven visual style that sometimes extends beyond traditional panels. Miranda's own sketches add to the graphic novel's humor and heart. Miranda and her family present white. Miranda's diverse friend group is introduced in detail, but these characters receive little development. The story's early chapters juggle school, family, and friendships before the second half shifts entirely to the race, making the story feel unbalanced. The river sequences deliver the book's strongest emotional and narrative momentum, ultimately carrying the story to a satisfying, affirming finish. A refreshing reminder that growth comes from the journey, not just the outcome.(Graphic fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
TextPublisher: New York : First Second, 2026Description: 352 pages : chiefly illustrations ; 22 cmContent type: