Maya Gabeira is the author of Beyond the Board as well as the picture books Maya and the Beast and Maya Makes Waves. She is also 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 wave 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. She lives in Nazare, Portugal.