-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Zanni Arnot
Simultaneously introspective and humorous, A Guide to Falling Off the Map is a funny, tender, messy, and authentic story about two teens who fall in love on the precipice of things falling apart.
Outgoing Vinnie Smith has her NYC future planned with her best friend Lilah. Meanwhile, her childhood friend Roo Carpenter is barely getting by, having dropped out of high school to work a shady job and support his mom.
But when Vinnie's world starts falling apart ― plagued by severe headaches, rejected as drama captain, and betrayed by Lilah ― she decides to fix Roo's life instead. They hit the road across inland Australia in her mom's old Kombi, reliving their past adventures.
As they travel, Vinnie's unresolved grief over her mom resurfaces, her health deteriorates, and unexpected, intense feelings for Roo begin to threaten their friendship. Can they navigate their emotions and find a way forward, or will everything they've ever known come crashing down?
"Vinnie and Roo share the narrative, making a tender and funny pair... It's a road trip to remember." —Booklist (starred review)
"An emotionally rich meditation on people finding their way." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about A Guide to Falling Off the Map was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Zanni L. Arnot, who publishes children's books under the moniker "Zanni Louise," is the Australian author of more than forty trade books for children, which are licensed in over twenty foreign territories. Zanni Louise has been writing stories since she was little, growing up in New South Wales. She now lives with her family of four (and two bunnies) in her little sunshine house in the Byron Bay hinterland.
If you liked A Guide to Falling Off the Map, try these:
by Susanna Kwan
Published 2026
An utterly transporting debut novel about the unexpected relationship between an artist and the 130-year-old woman she cares for—two of the last people living in a flooded San Francisco of the future, the home neither is ready to leave.
by Fredrik Backman
Published 2026
#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger's life twenty-five years later.
by Dwyer Murphy
Published 2026
When a group of old college friends reunites for a summer vacation at a beach house in coastal Massachusetts, a sudden disappearance and the arrival of a seductive stranger threaten to unearth the darkest secrets of their relationships.
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
