START HERE by Trish Doller. New York: Simon Pulse, 2019.  346p.
ISBN 978-1481479912 hc. $18.99     Gr. 9-12     YA FIC

After their mutual best friend, Finley, succumbed to cancer, Willa and Taylor decide to honor her memory by sailing to Key West the summer after graduation, just as the three of them had planned to do together.  Finley left them a list of clues as to the route they should sail for maximum adventure.  The trouble is that Willa and Taylor are definitely not best friends, although Finley was a best friend to both of them.  Each time their rocky relationship is beginning to gel, Willa and Taylor argue or say something offensive and end up angry all over again.  However, the close proximity of living on a sailboat together and adhering to the same plan for the journey is forcing them to talk out their differences and find similarities instead.  As they heal from the loss of Finley, Willa and Taylor form a new kind of friendship together. Doller, author of SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL and IN A PERFECT WORLD adds another heartwarming story about modern teens and the problems they encounter to her list of good books.
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI