Crashing into You

by Rocky Callen

Overview

In this fiercely moving YA romance novel, Leti Rivera's love of street racing is put to the test when tragedy strikes her family and threatens to tear her apart from the boy she's falling for.

Seventeen-year-old Leti Rivera dreams of becoming a famous female street racer. Her brother taught her how to drive so fast that nothing can catch her.

But when Jacob Fleckenstein crashes into her life, Leti starts to think that running isn’t always the answer. Together, inside her car, they both feel like they’re flying, and Jacob’s gentleness and honesty threaten Leti’s vow to keep her heart tight in her fist and her grief locked away.

Yet after tragedy strikes following a race, Leti blames herself and swears an oath, a juramento, to give up driving. But will she be able to keep her promise when racing could be the very thing that saves Jacob . . . and herself? Perfect for fans of Netflix's Atypical and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250861894
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	06/25/2024
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	520,618
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Rocky Callen, the daughter of an Ecuadorian immigrant, interned at NASA at 12 years old. She was a behavioral coach for over ten years. She received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband and two kids. Rocky founded the HoldOn2Hope Project, which unites creatives in suicide prevention and mental health awareness. She is the author of A Breath Too Late and the contributing co-editor of Ab(solutely) Normal: Sixteen Stories that Smash Mental Health Stereotypes. Follow her on TikTok and Instagram.

Editorial Reviews

03/25/2024

As a scholarship student at Philmore Academy, where she’s one of only a few brown students and is constantly enduring anti-fat taunting from her classmates, Ecuadorian and Mexican American 16-year-old Leticia Rivera is used to not fitting in. Practically raised by her 32-year-old brother Santos following their mother’s death, which left their grief-stricken father struggling to care for them, stubborn Leti feels most at home while street-racing, a skill she learned from Santos and his motley garage crew. She hopes to one day receive “the elusive Underground Race Invitation”; she believes that winning the race will put her in the fast lane toward her dreams of being a renowned female street racer. When autistic, Jewish Russian classmate Jacob Fleckenstein returns from sitting shiva following his father’s death, he and Leti bond over their mutual losses and their hopes for the future. Then, Leti finally receives the coveted Underground Race invite, but a personal tragedy forces her to reevaluate her love of street-racing and prompts her to uncover family secrets. In this propulsively paced novel, Callen (A Breath Too Late) juggles a large ensemble cast whose personal challenges are thoughtfully integrated into the central romance. Ages 14–up. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (June)

Publishers Weekly

* "An Ecuadorian cultural infusion and great autistic representation layer with busy, realistic-feeling teens, a complex but ultimately hopeful family dynamic, and a lightning-fast plot for a powerful emotional payoff about the consequences of losing one’s self." —Booklist, starred review

* "This ­novel should hold an ­important place in teen l­ibraries." —School Library Journal, starred review

"Telenovela flair to a charming teen romance." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Put this love story at the top of your to be read pile." —Kasie West, author of Sunkissed

"Crashing Into You bursts onto the page with complex family dynamics, authentic explorations of grief, and relationships to root for. Powerful and immersive." —Laura Taylor Namey, New York Times-bestselling author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea and Tomorrow

"A compelling story about first love and the hard choices we must make to move forward." - Lilliam Rivera, author of Pura Belpré Honor book Never Look Back

Praise for A Breath Too Late

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year, Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year, and Texas Library Association 2022 TAYSHAS Pick

"An amazing and wrenching story." —Printz Award–winning author Jandy Nelson

"Raw, heartbreaking, and poignant." —New York Times-bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow

"Both a love letter and a life raft to the brokenhearted." —New York Times–bestselling author Alison McGhee

"An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves." —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King

"A haunting story, punctuated with brilliant points of hope and light. This is an important story. Callen’s writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." —National Book Award finalist and Printz Award–winning author An Na

From the Publisher

★ 06/01/2024

Gr 10 Up—Leti Rivera is crashing both literally and figuratively in this title. She has been racing her lovely sombrita car fast and furiously for years so "nothing can catch her." She dreams of becoming a female street racer. Yet at the age of 17, she is starting to run into some of the very things she is trying to leave behind—the guilt over her mother's death, her father's never-ending grief, the private high school where she doesn't fit in, her own body, and the cruel boy who wants more than she is willing to give. She holds her heart in her fist to keep it safe, and only slowly begins to release it when she is forced to stop and notice Jacob, whose gentle innocence, patience, and even height bring her joy. As Leti slowly shares her heart, a series of "crashes" not in her control are set in motion, leading toward loss and trauma. Friends and family come together to help Leti find hope, but she must drive deep within to truly overcome her fears and sadness and rescue herself while saving Jacob. Callen presents a spunky, realistic Latina in a fast-paced novel with themes of love, loss, street racing, family, and a strong Latine identity. VERDICT This novel should hold an important place in teen libraries.—Ruth Quiroa

School Library Journal

2024-03-23
Leticia Rivera is a pro at outracing her problems—until she isn’t.

Sixteen-year-old Leti is a street racer in Maryland, something her older brother and primary caregiver, Santos, taught her—from driving at age 11 to mastering auto mechanics. Santos wanted her to be confident and know that the road was hers. Attending the fancy Philmore Academy on scholarship, Ecuadorian American Leti sticks out at the private school—“my body doesn’t fit into this uniform just like I don’t fit into this school”—and she’s not interested in the sexual advances of wealthy, popular Derek O’Neil, school quarterback and her rival on the underground racing circuit. Leti endures sexism, fat shaming, a barrage of microaggressions, and being abandoned by her best friend in favor of the popular kids, effectively solidifying her status as an outcast. She’s falling for fellow outsider Jacob Fleckenstein, an autistic boy who’s full of kindness and has a passion for outer space. Leti’s dreaming of getting an invitation to the Underground Race, with “winnings so big they could carry me far away,” when tragedy strikes. The novel starts out strong with its compelling setting, no-nonsense protagonist, and cast of quirky side characters, but it falters in melding together a love story, a tale of redemption, an underdog storyline, and a plotline about grief. Readers might stay for the action but become overwhelmed by the number of elements, some of which are executed less skillfully than others.

A bumpy but largely enjoyable ride. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews