Beyond the Board: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Daring Big Wave Surfer

From surfing legend Maya Gabeira comes this awe-inspiring memoir for teens about chartering your own course and making waves

Beyond the Board is the untold story of living legend Maya Gabeira who--at 25--broke her back and went on not only to recover but to hold the record for highest wave conquered by any big-wave surfer in the 2019-2020 winter season. Maya has been heralded as one of the top surfers of her generation, male or female--a legend in the making. But who is the ferocious personality beyond the board?

Maya’s memoir will chronicle her journey from a determined yet anxiety-plagued adolescent to the indomitable champion, Guinness World Record-holder, and role model she is today. Often called ＂Super Woman of surfing,＂ Maya didn’t pick up a board until age 15; before that, she was a ballet dancer. Just two years later, she left her home in Rio de Janeiro in order to chase waves around the world, toting a single backpack and waiting tables to get by. As a teen, Maya carved her own path, and her story is a remarkable one: a passion-driven young woman who learned never to flinch--even in the face of death.

Maya Gabeira is a Brazilian big-wave surfer, best known for setting the 2018 Guinness World Record for biggest wave ever surfed by a woman and for breaking her own record in 2020 with a wave of 73.5 feet, the biggest surfed by anyone--male or female--that year. As an ESPY award-winner and seven-time World Surf League Big Wave Award-winner, Gabeira is one of the most influential surfers of all time. She is also passionately committed to, and a fierce advocate for, restoring the world’s oceans.