A two-week mother-daughter backpacking trip on Minnesota's Superior Hiking Trail brings both insight and misery.Twelve-year-old Jo was looking forward to a promised backpacking trip with her father, when he abruptly abandoned the family for another woman and her children. Jo's mother, newly divorced and unhappy-and not a hiker-nevertheless gamely volunteered to make the trek with Jo. As the two inexperienced hikers set out with everything they need in heavy backpacks on their backs, Jo's primary motivation is to go farther than the 100 miles that her dad hiked with Jake, her older brother, when he was 12. Authentic in its depiction of the exhaustion, blisters, wrenched knees, boring dehydrated food, gross latrines, and wildlife dangers that make up a multiday backpacking adventure, the story also deftly contains a nuanced storyline as Jo struggles with not only her physical discomfort but her emotional discomfort as well. She lacks confidence in herself, feels she needs to protect her overwhelmed mother, and has deeply conflicting emotions about her dad. Jo's love of reading (she brings The Hobbit with her, and other classics feature in the plot) gets a clear shout-out, and her sometimes funny, sometimes gritty, and ofttimes just plain miserable outlook avoids giving the neatly wrapped-up insights a preachy feel. Jo and her mother read white; important secondary characters include an interracial lesbian couple.Nimbly plotted and deftly insightful. (maps, author's note, glossary with photos) (Fiction. 9-12)

Gr 4 Up— After her dad bails on their long-awaited father/daughter hike to be with his new family, Jo decides that she and her mother will hike longer and farther than her dad and brother did years before, to prove to him (and themselves) that they don't need him anymore. Out of spite, she plots a 111-mile trek through the Superior Hiking Trail—but spite doesn't last long, as Jo and her mom navigate the wilderness, make new friends, and work together to process the difficult emotions that come with divorce. This is an adventure story with a lot of heart. Readers looking for a pulse-pounding survival tale should look elsewhere, as the focus is on Jo dealing with the emotional fallout of her dad leaving. She has plenty of support in the wilderness, a fact that she uses to remind herself that she and her mother have similar support in their lives as well. While Jo's internal monologue as she processes her feelings about her dad can get a little monotonous, it's realistic, and her amusing observations about trail life shake things up. As Jo treks with her mom through the wilderness, she learns that things will get better as long as she just keeps moving forward. VERDICT This is a great choice for libraries looking for realistic fiction about dealing with divorce, as well as those seeking stories about the healing power of nature.— Mimi Powellt