Crashing Into You

March 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.