Joss and Alex, best friends forever, are heading to the Wisconsin Northwoods, where their families traditionally share a cozy cabin. As eighth grade nears, however, the girls find themselves in a standoff, and the chasm between them only seems to widen. Joss hopes to repair their relationship on a river-tubing trip, but the outdoor adventure becomes a nightmare as the pair become lost in the middle of an endless forest where they must fight for their lives as well as their friendship. There are moments of peril and bodily danger, but the most tender wounds here are the emotional ones nursed by the two girls. Both take turns telling their version of the story that led to their strained relationship, and there is plenty of sympathy for both sides; no one is the villain here. It's simply the complicated business of growing up and outgrowing past selves. In this classic adventure story with the heart of a relationship drama, it's easy to root for the complex girls and their deep friendship.

The complexity of middle school friendships is explored against the backdrop of a gripping wilderness survival story.Alejandra and Jocelyn-or Alex and Joss-have been best friends since kindergarten, forming the inseparable Team Alexelyn and spending glorious summer vacations together at Joss' family cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. The cabin trips are steeped in tradition, from doughnuts at Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty to the first lake jump of the summer. As the summer before eighth grade winds down, however, this year's cabin trip feels different. There's a new distance between Alex and Joss that neither girl wants to acknowledge, and Joss can't figure out why her best friend feels like a complete stranger. A river tubing trip seems like a good time to reconnect, but when a series of mishaps leave Alex and Joss wandering lost in the woods, the girls are faced with challenges that will test their strength and ability to survive. Told from the alternating first-person points of view of each girl, the story examines the complicated evolution of childhood friendships and the limits of human endurance. Alex and her family are Latinx; all other characters are assumed White.Fully developed characters and a brisk plot take readers along on a dangerous journey (Thriller. 9-13)

Gr 5-7 It's the first day of the annual family trip that Jocelyn ("Joss") and Alex's families take every summer to the Northwoods of Wisconsin, but this vacation looks nothing like the fun-filled trip that Joss anticipated. Alex has just ended their friendship, and now wants nothing to do with her, preferring to spend all her time texting her new best friend Laura Longbottom, the coolest girl at Walden Middle School. Ever since Alex befriended Laura at Spanish camp, she's been a part of the popular crowd. Her interests have changed, and it seems like Joss has been left behind. Joss doesn't want to go shopping or play with makeup. She just wants to keep the same traditions she's always had with her best friend. When Joss and Alex are forced to go inner-tubing on the river together, the last thing they expect is to get lost in the middle of the woods. The story is told chronologically through Joss and Alex's struggle to survive, and in flashbacks to key turning points in their friendship. Readers will empathize with both girls and ultimately root for their reconciliation. If Behrens's detailed and loving descriptions of the Northwoods of Wisconsin aren't enough, the "Note on the Setting" will convince readers to take a visitwhile practicing safe tubing, of course. VERDICT A compelling and relatable middle school friendship tale for fans of survival stories. Jessica Ko, Los Angeles Public Library