The Trouble with Destiny

Band geeks and those who love them are a natural audience for this lighthearted romantic comedy from Morrill (Being Sloane Jacobs), which takes place on a cruise ship full of high school students participating in a performing arts competition. The ship, Destiny, proves an ideal setting for both romantic and performing-arts-related high jinks, and high-energy, high-strung drum major Liza Sanders is a cheerful, can-do narrator, whose investment in her leadership role is amusing and endearing. Liza is determined to save her school’s band from folding due to budget cuts by winning the competition’s $25,000 grand prize, even as she spars with rivals (Liza’s ex-friend Demi leads up a competing school’s dance team), juggles multiple crushes, and tries to manage her bandmates’ antics. Well-chosen details of the surreal nature of life aboard a cruise ship (not to mention as a member of a high school band) add authenticity to an upbeat story about underdogs, saving something worthwhile, mending fences with old friends, and finding love in unexpected places. A Paper Lantern Lit property. Ages 12–up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Foundry Literary + Media. (Dec.)